The War
by Chara4
Summary: While the Gems are colonizing the Earth, they find out that they aren't the only ones with their eyes on the planet.
1. Chapter 1

After several years, we have arrived at our destination; an abnormally large Star System, known as ESS-956. The initial scans from our Homeworld revealed there to be several gas giants, which we came to harvest. However, after arrival our scans detected there to be nine planetary systems; three rocky planets, two binary rocky planets, and four gas giants.

"Captain! Captain!" The scanner's operator called out as they entered the bridge, "This system is a goldmine! There are seven planets here with colony-potential, and four gas giants!"

After the captain heard the news he was awestruck. Seven colonies? In one system! They would go down in history as one of the greatest galactic colonizers in history! "Alright, I think it's the new top priority to begin the colonization process. We'll take the habitation vessels to the-" The captain began before he was cut off.

"Um, sir?" The pilot interrupted.

The captain, upset that he was interrupted, turned to the pilot with a questioning look, silently asked him to continue.

"W- well, uhh," The pilot stammered, not used to being the center of attention, "Shouldn't we find out if any of these planets are s- safe for us? I mean like, what if one of the planets atmospheres is made of acid or something?"

The captain thought it over for a second, and then turned to the scanner operator, "You did scan for habitability, right?"

They looked nervous, then slowly backed out of the room.

The captain put his head in his hands for a moment, then turned to the ship's computer "Computer, scan for habitability." The computer went to work, and the captain leaned back in his seat, "This is going to be a long trip..."

* * *

In the briefing room, several Gems were planning their colonization of the Earth.

Pink Diamond sat at the end of a table, looking over several blueprints.

"Yes, I like this. But let's move the Galaxy warp out to here," She pointed to a spot on the map, "That way it would be closer to this tower and we wont have to waste a warp pad on it."

"Yes my diamond, I'll change that right away!" A peridot responded before leaving the room.

Pink Diamond looked over the blueprints one more time. Satisfied with them, she put the blueprints down and went to the bridge.

Once she arrived, she was greeted by a peridot. "My diamond! Peridot Facet-3NFL Cut-1AG reporting!"

Pink looked at the peridot, "Is something wrong with the ship?"

The peridot looked back up at Pink Diamond, "N- no ma'am. It's just that the scanners have detected several large objects approaching the planet."

"Are they asteroids?" Pink asked, slightly concerned.

"Negative. We were unable to detect their composition, but judging by their shape we have reason to believe that they are artificial in origin."

Pink raised an eyebrow and thought to herself, "I made it clear that I was taking this planet, so it couldn't be another one of the diamonds.." Pink looked back at the peridot, "How many of these objects are there?"

"At least 80."

Pink was shocked! 80 spaceships in _her_ star system? Although, they did most likely have far superior technology, and it shouldn't be a problem; she was furious!. "We'll continue the colonization process, I'll have 2 of the defense ships remain in orbit, everything else will continue as planned."

The peridot saluted Pink Diamond once more and went off to tell the captain the news.

Pink went off to her quarters, "Stars, the others are going to get a good laugh outta this."

 **So! That's the first chapter! This is my first story on here so I hope you enjoyed it!**  
 **If you have any feedback I would love to hear it to help me improve my writing skills!**


	2. Chapter 2

After several minutes, the computer had deduced that the first binary planet system was the best suited for habitation.

"Alright, tell the rest of the fleet where we're headding. We'll take the colonization vessels and begin the process." The captain ordered.

"Yes sir!" The crew said in unison.

The captain checked something on the computer, then turned to the rest of the crew, "Alright, so what're we betting on this place having life?"

The bridge was silent for a moment, until an engineer spoke up, "I'm betting my next paycheck that it's barren."

There were some whispers among the crew until someone else spoke up, "I bet my next five paychecks that it's covered in life!"

The captain silently laughed to himself as the crew threw their money away, and turned back to the computer. Shortly after he began checking the fleet's status, a light began flashing.

Another light, signifying the same thing, appeared on the scanner's console. "Heads up everybody!"

When nobody responded, they shouted "HEY!" This got their attention, "There's two large objects coming our way! Get to your stations!"

An alarm went off, and everyone got to their positions.

* * *

 _Several minutes prior..._

The diamonds were not laughing.

"Organics with spaceships?" Yellow Diamond asked, "Oh pink, there's not a single species in this universe capable of traversing space aside from gems.."

"Well.." Blue Diamond interjected, "We haven't explored everything yet, and the universe is pretty old, who's to say that it's impossible?"

White Diamond sighed, "Blue, organic life works differently than gems, they need a specific combination of gases to breathe, stars, they'd get fried from the radiation stars let off—"

"I know that White!" Blue Diamond countered, "But what if they found some way to counter all that? Remember those giant insects?"

White Diamond sighed and spoke, "Sorry Pink, I'm going to have to call you back.. And so is blue."

"Wait! Wha—" White and Blue hung up, leaving Yellow and Pink Diamond.

Pink turned to Yellow's hologram, "What do you think?" She asked.

Yellow thought for a moment, "If you're that worried just send some ships to take care of it. It shouldn't be too difficult, even if they _do_ wind up being organic ships."

"Alright," Pink paused, "Thank you for the advice. I'll update you all once the situation has been taken care of."

"You better..." Yellow finished, before hanging up the call.

Pink thought for a moment, and picked up her communicator to call the captain. "Send the defense ships to confront the objects." She paused as the captain responded, "Tell them to be prepared for anything." She hung up.

Pink sighed and sat at her desk, "I have got a very bad feeling about this..."

 **And there's the second chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! And I apologize if there was a drop in quality from the last chapter, I wroute this on my phone. But in any case, I hope you all look forward to the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Defense ship Beta reporting, can confirm the objects are of artificial origin." The captain of one of the Gem ships sent to Earth, "Attempting to contact as per Pink Diamond's instructions. Will report back soon."

The entire gem crew stared on in awe of the giant space ships, even the smallest of which was twice the size of the largest Gem ships. Instead of clearly being built out of panels and welded together, the ships appeared to be single, seamless pieces.

Once they were finished gawking at the wonders of engineering, the captain called out to a Peridot, "Communications array, attempt contact."

The Peridots didn't realize they were being spoken to until a nearby Ruby roughly nudged one, "Wha- Oh! Yes ma'am, right away!" She saluted the captain and got to work.

While the crew was busy at work, the captain realized something, her whole life, she was told that organic life was incapable of traversing space; in fact, she was told that organic life was incapable of even having the mental capacity to even _think_ about traversing space... And yet, here she was, staring at evidence that proved that wrong...

" _But the Diamonds.._ " She wondered, " _They're the one's who told us.. The Diamonds wouldn't lie to us though..._ "

"Right?" The captain accidentally whispered out loud; in a normal setting this would have been inaudible, drowned out by the idle conversation of the crew or the sounds of this ship.

However the bridge here was silent, and nearly everyone heard her. "Sorry ma'am, what was that?" One of the nearby Rubies asked.

Realizing her mistake, the captain quickly responded "Huh?- Oh uhh, nevermind! Sorry just.. Thinking out loud."

The crew, regardless of their suspicions, decided it would be a better idea to return to their duties.

Happy that the crew had dropped the topic, the captain returned to her thoughts " _Would the Diamonds lie to us? But if they did, what would they have to gain from it? Am I missing something? Did they not know?_ "

The captain was getting increasingly confused, but her train of thought was ground to a halt as the communications Peridot announced that she had established contact. The captain made a mental note to think about this later, and ordered the Peridot to put the video feed on the screen.

The captain smiled as she realized she would be the first Gem to make contact with another space-faring species.

* * *

"Captain, we're getting a signal! It appears they're attempting to make contact!" One of the crew members announced.

"Answer the call." The captain ordered.

Once they answered the call, they were greeted with an image of a Gem clearly exited to make first contact.

"Greetings, fellow space travelers! I am Nephrite Facet-98H7 Cut-9VY, for now I will be the ambassador of the mighty Gem Empire until we can arrange a proper meeting."

Clearly surprised to have received so much information at once, the captain hesitantly responded, "Uhh, hello Nephrite F.. Facket-96 Uhh, is it alright if I just call you Nephrite for simplicity sake?"

Not affected at all, the now deemed 'Nephrite' gladly accepted her new nickname, "Yes, that is alright. What is it that you call yourself?"

"On my homeworld, Shash-Prime, I am referred to as Nufonirah Un Colifraa, conqueror of Worlds; but my crew calls me Nufon." **(Pronounced nuu-fon)**

* * *

To say they looked anything like what Nephrite expected would be a lie, mainly due to her lack of expectations. However, even though she was ready for anything, she was still surprised. The species greatly resembled Gems; two arms, two legs, the strange part was their face which had three eyes. They had two human-like eyes in roughly the same locations, however on their forehead was one large compound eye, very similar to an insect's eye. If one were to look at one of them from a distance squinting, they could possibly mistake one of them for a very strange looking Gem.

"Nice to meet you Nufon, I am pleased to have been able to be the Gem to have made first contact with your species. Now, I-" She was cut off by her communicator going off.

"Oh! Pardon me, I need to take this." She picked up the communicator. "This is Defense Ship Beta, who is this?" Her eyes widened as she realized who was calling her, "P- Pink Diamond! Sorry for not updating you on the situation sooner, we were making first contact with this species as per your orders. And if I do say so myself, I'd say that-"

* * *

The entire crew noticed that Nufon was slightly blushing, as much as a Belloggan could. And frankly who could blame him? Were Nephrite one of their own, she would be one of the most beautiful women among their grand empire. The gem on her head even resembled one of their third eyes, she could easily pass as one of their own species. Nufon's silent admiration of Nephrite was cut off once she responded to her superior.

"B- b- but my Diamond, they are clearly peaceful!" The Belloggan crew was clearly not supposed to hear this, and they silently began to worry.

"M- my Diamond! I can't do that! This is the first space-faring species that we've discovered! This is possibly one of the most important moments of Gem history!" She was silent once more, "No, I'm n- not questioning your authority. I simply don't understand why we would.." She looks at the screen and whispers something into the communicator.

At this point the crew was on the brink of panic, at least until she spoke once more. "Y- yes my Diamond, I'll patch you through to them right away!"

A moment later, the screen changed. On it was now the one and only.. Pink Diamond, who quickly asked, "Is this the non-Gem fleet my ship was communicating with?"

She irradiated authority, yet her voice betrayed her, clearly showing that she was young and inexperienced. "Yes, this is the grand Belloggan second fleet, who are you?"

She scoffed, "The 'grand Belloggan second fleet' huh? Grand my gem... This is Pink Diamond. Was one of my Nephrites communicating with you?"

This confused Nufon, what did she mean by 'my Nephrites?' Did she own her? Regardless of his concerns, he hesitantly responded, "...Yeeesss?"

If Pink diamond noticed his hesitance, she did not show it, "Alright she will be properly dealt with. That will be all."

Nufon jumped at the screen, "Wait! What do you mean 'dealt with?'" Was all he managed to get out before the communications feed closed.

* * *

Nephrite was silently panicking. She was just a captain! She's not supposed to initiate first contact with aliens! But yet she did, and she can't help but feel that she wanted to see this 'Nufon' again. She thought it was a yearning for knowledge, but she quickly ruled that out. She attempted to pin it to something else before she realized it was pointless. She attempted to do the job of another Gem, she would be shattered for sure.

She was quickly proven right once Pink Diamond showed up on the monitor, "Defense Ships Alpha and Beta, destroy the alien fleet. And Defense Ship Beta, your captain is no longer your superior. Put her in the brig, you'll follow the orders of Defense Ship Alpha's captain."

Nephrite was apprehended and didn't put up any struggle, not that it would have made any difference, she was going to be shattered either way. She had a long time to think, but every topic she thought of slowly brought her back to Nufon. What was it about this alien? Whenever she thought about him, she couldn't help but blush; not that she knew, there were no mirrors in the cell.

She couldn't help but hope that the Gem ships lost, but she couldn't tell why. And she likely never would...

 **And there's chapter 3! Now you all know the character's names. And the name of this mysterious alien race: "The** **Belloggans!" I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope that I can keep the chapters at this length! See you all next week!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

Nufon was in shock, they were probably going to kill her! He didn't exactly know much about other civilizations, but if the records he'd read were any indication most species were extremely hostile. He stood there for a moment, hoping that they would call back and say that that was a very strange welcoming ceremony for this race...

Until one of the crew spoke up, "Sir! The ships are advancing on the fleet!"

Nufon was silent for a moment, trying to think of a way to solve this without starting a war. He came up with no solution.

"First order of business.." He finally spoke, "We save Nephrite."

Most of the crew understood and went to their stations, but there was one who disagreed, "Sir? We can't just go out and save this random alien!"

To say Nufon was upset would be an understatement, he turned to see who spoke, "Mason... You've read the reports, we have _all_ read the reports." He gestured to the surrounding crew, "You know that all the intelligent races our species has discovered so far have been hostile. Nephrite was the first ever alien _anyone_ in our empire has met who's been an even somewhat decent person."

Mason understood what Nufon was getting at, but he still had his doubts, "And what if this 'Nephrite' character turns out to be a trap? What if-" He was cut off.

Nufon responded in a calm, yet saddened voice, "If Nephrite is tricking us, I'll kill her myself... Is that good enough for you?"

There was silence for a moment, "Alright..." Mason slowly spoke, "Trust me, I hope she's good too. Just.. Exercise caution... Sir." He went back to his station.

"Good." Nufon turned back to his seat, "Communications, you know which ship the message was coming from?"

"Yes sir, the message was coming from the ship on the far right. Also, judging by what we were able to intercept, the control between the two is coming from the other ship." The engineer responded.

"Alright people!" He turned to the crew, "Here's what we're going to do."

* * *

It didn't take long for Nephrite to remember that Pink Diamond ordered her to contact the ships.

"Hey! I'm innocent! Pink Diamond told me to contact them!" She yelled out to a Ruby guard, which didn't respond.

"UghhH!" She grunted in frustration as she kicked a wall, which surprisingly dented it. "Woah."

"Hey! Quit breaking everything!" The guard barked at her.

She didn't respond, but that seemed to please the guard anyway. Nephrite looked around to see if there were any exposed pipes, or anything that could give her some sort of leverage to escape. When she found none, she came up with an idea.

"Hey Ruby.." She called out with faux sadness, luckily for her Rubies weren't all too bright.

"I'm not allowed to speak with prisoners." The ruby responded.

"Well yeah," she began, "but.. I'm your captain. You _have_ to follow my orders."

"Yeah but..." The ruby spoke before something shook the ship, once she regained her balance she continued, "You're in a cell, and the other captain said-"

"Oh please," she brushed it off, "that other captain doesn't run this ship, I do! And besides, if I were to be carted off to somewhere, who'll run the ship? One captain can't command two ships forever."

The ruby seemed to be at a loss, "Well, alright I guess, but don't tell anyone ok?"

Nephrite smiled, "Your secret's safe with me!"

* * *

The fight was intense. Several ships had been destroyed, and many would have to be decommissioned. Luckily however, the Belloggan weaponry proved rather effective against the Gem ships.

"HEY! Pull your punches, we've got a hostage on that ship!" Nufon yelled into his communicator.

"Backup is on the way sir!" One of the crew members yelled.

"Good! Tell them to board the ships, we've got to disable them!" Nufon responded.

The battle went on for a few minutes uninterrupted, until the communicator began beeping, Nufon responded and was greeted by someone he didn't want to see, "General Norg reporting." The man spoke in a gravelly voice.

"Ah, General. While I would usually greet you with a snarky remark, or something else; that doesn't matter now. We've got a real situation here!"

General Norg looked genuinely shocked, "Holy.. If it's got you this serious then it's gotta be something big! What is it boy, tell me!" He leaned up to the camera.

"We've found an alien who isn't hostile, and she's on one of those ships and her race is planning to kill her!" Nufon frantically replied.

Norg looked suspicious, but decided that it wasn't worth arguing about it, "I'll ask questions later, for now we need to get her to safety!" Norg responded, determined, "Which ship is she on?"

"I'm pinging it now.. There, it's on your radar!" Nufon said, as he sent the ship's coordinates to the General.

"Aaaalright got it! C'mon men lets get moving!" Norg ordered his men as he turned away for a second, "Alright, now I need a picture so the guys-"

"No! Don't kill any of them." Nufon cut him off, before the General could ask why he quickly continued, "We're going to need all the information on this race we can get. We need prisoners."

Norg suddenly understood, "Ah, got it."

Before Norg could continue, Nufon quickly interjected, "And I'll be sending some of my crew over to help, it's best we get this over with as fast as possible."

"Alright, I'll let you know when the ships are cleared out." Norg spoke before he hung up.

* * *

Nephrite was having a difficult time traversing the ship; for one there was only one Nephrite on board, so everyone knew who she was. Secondly, the entire crew was scrambling around the ship to get to their stations, due to the ship being designed for defense the crew was mostly made up of various quartzes. If she didn't already know the layout it would have been impossible. She was travelling down a relatively empty hallway when the ship began to vibrate, she was confused until she realized that the ship was being boarded.

"Finally!" She whispered.

She was ecstatic to finally be able to escape.. Until the soldiers began to exit their boarding capsules and take out Gems indiscriminately.. She still wasn't in the clear yet.

"Alright!" One of the soldiers called out once they believed the hall to be empty, "Spread out! Capture anyone you see! Standard training protocol still applies!"

Nephrite quickly hid in a partially opened metal crate as one of the groups passed her location.

Obviously terrified, Nephrite quickly thought to herself, " _Alright Nephrite, what would be the smartest route from here?_ " She thought about it and came to a conclusion, " _I'll need to kill the engines! The ship can't be allowed to escape!_ " And she was off.

Quickly heading to the center of the ship, while somehow remaining undetected, she made it to the engine room. Nephrite looked around to make sure that no one was guarding it and quickly got to work...

"Sorry.." She muttered when she finished disfiguring the engine, "I'll get you all fixed up when this is over, I promise."

She slowly exited the room, not realizing she was no longer alone...

 **And there's chapter four! I'm glad I could get this one out early, and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! See you all next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

Nephrite noticed that the ship had become strangely quiet, having been the captain for as long as she had she knew that most of the ship wasn't soundproofed. She should've been able to hear anything that was going on, and this silence terrified her. She couldn't help but feel that she was being watched, but when she looked around there was no one there. She decided it would be best to find an escape pod and head to an uninhabited planet, since she was technically now a fugitive.

She walked for several minutes in near silence, the only sound being her own footsteps. Every once in a while she thought she heard something right behind her, only to find herself completely alone.. She'd begun shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, until she found herself in the escape pod bay.

Relieved, she boarded the closest pod, sealed the hatch, and began searching for a planet to head to.

Until the lights went out...

* * *

One of the soldiers had been following a straggler, after the ship had been cleared out most of the boarding party had left. However, they needed to be sure that the ship was cleared out before harvesting it. This one in particular didn't seem to be any threat, but if he'd learned anything from previous raids it was that you should never underestimate an opponent.

They'd followed her until she approached what appeared to be an escape pod bay. The soldier was about to jump in and stop her, which was when the power went out.

" _It's my lucky day._ " The soldier thought to himself, preparing to ambush her instead.

* * *

When the lights went out Nephrite had almost panicked.. _Almost_ , as she needed a way to get out of there. The feeling of being watched was strongest here, so she'd have to think fast. Nephrite lit up her Gem like a flashlight, and looked around for anything she could use. She found an old metal pipe, which she grabbed. Due to nephrites only being used as captains, they had no need for a gem weapon, similar to a peridot or a pearl.

She slowly pried open the hatch.. And made a mad dash to the exit, but she felt something grab her foot! She turned and hit it with the pipe as hard as she could, breaking the pipe and getting the thing to let go. She quickly got up and ran to the door, ditching the broken pipe.

Not having time to think about where she was going, she ran to the most secluded room she could find and barricaded the door.

* * *

" _Gotcha._ " He thought, he was wrong.

He suddenly got hit by something, and _hard_. It felt as if someone ran a train into him! Reflexes took over and he was forced to grab onto his arm, allowing the Gem to escape.

Once he realized what happened he looked to see what he had been hit with, which was nothing more than a common pipe! He would be mocked for months!

"DAMNIT!" He yelled as he kicked a wall.

"DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNIT DAMNI-" He was shouting until he heard his superior speaking through his headset.

"Marcus!? Marcus! Are you there?" He heard his captain say.

"Nufon! Yeah, I'm here. Ow.." He responded.

"What happened? Do we have to send in more troops?" Nufon asked, worriedly.

"No, I-" He stopped and thought for a moment, "You know what, that's probably a good idea.."

"You still haven't said what happened yet.." Nufon said, slightly suspicious, "And we still don't have Nephrite here, so she's still on that ship."

"One of them got me with a metal pipe of all things! Thing hit me so hard I think it broke a bone."

"Ouch.. I'll send in a medic and a few other soldiers where you entered." Nufon stated.

"Gotcha. I'll report in later." Mason responded, heading toward his entrance.

* * *

 _Now_ Nephrite was panicking.

She searched the room several times to make sure she was safe. Then, when she knew she was actually alone, she put everything left in the room against the door and curled up in a corner.

Nephrite couldn't think of a time when she was more terrified. The soldiers weapons not only went through a Gem's physical form like there was nothing there, but it also vaporized the wall behind the gem. And the walls were made of Tungsten! She didn't want to think about what would happen if they aimed for someone's Gem.

She thought back to Nufon, he couldn't have sent these soldiers in, could he?

" _Is there anyone I can trust?_ " Nephrite thought, " _Maybe Gem reinforcements had arrived and they mixed up ships?_ "

She thought about it and couldn't find any reasonable answer...

Then the ship began to vibrate again.

* * *

Mason waited for several minutes until the pod arrived. Once it bored through the hull he was inspected by the medic.

"Damn, this is a pretty bad injury." The medic observed, "What was this made with?"

Mason didn't want to say around the other soldiers, but had no choice, "A metal pipe."

The medic went wide-eyed, "A pipe did this?"

One of the other soldiers began to chuckle, but was silenced by another. Another one of them asked, "Is he going to be alright?"

The medic looked at the soldier, and then back at Mason's injury, "Yeah, he'll be alright. I'm just surprised is all.."

"Alright men, you know what we have to do." The leader of the group said to his men, before turning to Mason, "We'll need your scanner to get a good lock on her position."

Mason looked at him for a second, "Yeah, gotcha." He said before removing something from his helmet.

The soldier took a wire and connected the device to a screen and waited a moment, he moved it around until it began emitting a faint beeping sound, "This way."

And they were off.

* * *

After several minutes of absolute silence, Nephrite began to hear something.. Which sounded like footsteps.

" _This is it.. This is the end._ " Nephrite thought to herself, " _They're going to find me and shatter me._ "

After silently saying her good-byes to all the Gems she knew, the footsteps stopped.

Nephrite froze, and for what felt like an eternity, but was actually just a few seconds, there was nothing but silence..

Until a dent appeared in the _wall_. Several more appeared and she ran to hide in the pile she used to barricade the door. Once she hid a hole appeared in the wall, which was quickly pried open.

She heard footsteps enter the room, and a faint beeping sound. It changed in frequency until she heard it announce, "Target Located."

"She's in the pile." Someone stated.

Then everything began to shift, desks and computer terminals began moving around, dismantling the pile she had worked so hard to build. Nephrite began to get closer to the door, hoping that they wouldn't find her. But she knew it was not to happen.

A desk shifted, revealing her pursuers. Who appeared to be the same as the thing which grabbed her foot earlier.

She attempted to beg for her life, "P- please! Leave me alone!" She nearly began to cry.

"Aha!" One of them shouted, "Got her!" It reached in and grabbed one of her arms which she was using to shield herself.

"No!" She began to struggle. She may have been strong, but they were stronger.. _Much_ stronger.

"C'mon now," It began before Nephrite attempted to bite it's hand. It pulled back, "Woah now, she's a biter."

One of them aimed their weapons at her Gem. Once she realized, she was petrified. Another one reached in, this time more careful, "Alright now, come with us and you won't get hurt."

She didn't want to, but she didn't really have a choice. It slowly pulled a computer terminal away from the pile and grabbed her wrist again. She slightly resisted, but was ultimately forced out and onto her feet.

They put some sort of restraints on her, and poked her back. "C'mon, let's go." She slowly followed as they exited.

Two of them began having a conversation, "Hey, what do you say we take this one for ourselves? I mean it's not like they'll notice, there's plenty of these guys."

Nephrite slowed down, until she got poked in the back again. The one it was speaking to responded, "What? No, our orders were to take this one back to base with all the others. You know the drill for raids, we take them all to one place and the leaders come to take them away to do experiments and-" It continued speaking, but Nephrite stopped listening, she needed to escape _now_.

She turned around and slammed her foot into the soldier's weapon, knocking it away. She quickly ran up and headbutted them, they were out cold.

It was at this point where the others realized something happened, "Wha- HEY! GET HER!"

The began to aim their weapons, but Nephrite kicked one into another, knocking them both out. Now she just had the one left to deal with. She began to run up to them and-

They shot her.. It was the most excruciating pain she'd ever felt. She wanted to poof, but she couldn't. If she did she'd be vulnerable. Her form glitched and she was able to refocus, but before she could do anything, she was shot again.. And once more for good measure.

Not even a diamond would be able to withstand this. She finally was able to understand what Quartz's had to deal with on the battlefield.. But she was not a Quartz.  
And she couldn't take this. She began to feel the sensation of falling, until-

Everything went dark...

 **And there's number five! I hope you all enjoyed this one as much as you have the previous chapters! I'll see you all next time, and we can hear about what happened to Nephrite!**


	6. Chapter 6

" _What is taking them so long?_ " Nufon wondered, slightly frantically.

He was left to his thoughts until the communicator finally went off, "General Norg reporting, the ship has been cleared."

"Oh thank god." Nufon responded, "I'll meet you in the hangar. You know the drill."

And so he was off, leaving the bridge empty. Traversing the many halls of his spacecraft was simple for Nufon, since he'd been the captain for so many years. He thought about how he'd be praised as the Belloggan who'd found a friendly alien. " _They'll put a statue of me in the Shash Prime hall of fame for sure!_ " He excitedly thought.

"General Norg reporting, the fleet's monitoring ship is requesting to board." The communicator announced.

Nufon took the device and responded, "Allow them, I want them to see this."

And it was silent once more..

Once Nufon had arrived in the hangar, the Gems who had surrendered were lined up and restrained; the technicians, pearls, and the other Nephrite captain. Across from them was a container full of Gems who'd failed to surrender. The Belloggans believed them to dead, and frankly who could blame them?

Once Nufon noticed all the poofed Gems he was furious! He walked up to Norg and slapped him across the face, "I thought I told you to tell the soldiers _not_ to kill them?"

Norg didn't even acknowledge getting slapped and responded, "I did, they claim they had to in self defense."

Nufon sighed, "Fine.. Now, where's Nephrite?" He looked around, until he noticed the other captain. Delighted to see her face to face, he walked up to her.. Until he realized something was off.

The Nephrite scowled at him and asked, "What do _you_ want?"

Slightly taken aback, Nufon looked her over and realized, the gem was in the wrong place! Instead of her forehead it was on one of her hands. He looked back at her, "Weren't you the one who contacted me?"

The Nephrite scoffed, "Contact a filthy organic like you? Why would I want to do that? If I had it my way this ship would've been blown to pieces!"

Confused, Nufon looked around again, only to realize that there were no other Neprites.. He walked back over to Norg, "I thought you said the ship was cleared?"

Norg looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "I did? The last boarding party left right before I called you?"

"Where are they now?" He demanded. Norg pointed to one of the groups of soldiers, and Nufon stormed off to them.

Once the soldiers realized they were being approached, they stood to attention, "The mission was a success, sir!"

Nufon looked them over, and responded, "Thats not what I'm here for, have you seen one of the aliens who looked like that one?" He pointed to the other Nephrite.

At this point one of them began to sweat, "Uhh- No sir!"

Nufon noticed. And looked at another group of soldiers, "Search them." He ordered, pointing to the suspicious five.

"Wha- What? Sir there's been a mistake! We don't have anything worth searching us for!" The nervous one responded.

He looked back at them, "If you don't have any contraband then you have no reason to be nervous."

They looked at the other members of their group, who were glaring at them. He pulled out his gun and grabbed one of his teammates, holding them hostage, "Don't you-" He was cut off when a laser cut right through his leg.

The Belloggan soldier immediately passed out from the pain. Sighing, the rest of the group took out their bags and held them out to be searched, the last one also grabbing the traitor's.

Waiting for the search to end, Nufon called General Norg over. "What are you going to do with the traitor?"

"As we do with all traitors. We'll send him to Brigantia." Norg responded.

Nufon shivered, Brigantia was where they sent all traitors to live the rest of their life. The planet had gravity too high for any Belloggan not born there, and the atmosphere was _extremely_ thin, only reaching a mile high.

"Sir we've completed the search, the traitor was carrying this in their bag." They held up what was unmistakably...

Nufon gasped, "No!" And stared at it for a moment, then slowly reaching out to grab it. It was unmistakably Nephrite's. Due to there being so few of the type in the room, it was safe to assume.. The first friendly alien they had ever discovered, was now dead.

He stared at the gemstone for what felt like hours, understandably upset. Everyone in the room but the gems spoke a silent prayer for the, seemingly, lost soul.

Nufon took the traitor's bag and placed the stone back in, claiming the bag for himself.

Norg put his hand on Nufon's shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. The two may dislike each other, but they still showed sympathy when it was needed. "Do you need a minute?" Norg asked.

Nufon let out a long, silent sigh and nodded. Norg patted him on the back and sent him off to his quarters.

However, before he could make it very far all hell broke loose. Several of the Quartzes reformed and began attacking the Belloggan soldiers. Everyone with a gun began protecting the ship from the rampaging Gem soldiers. But it was for naught; despite the Belloggans having far superior weaponry, the Gems had strength in numbers.

Norg realized that, at this point, the ship was a lost cause. Even though the fight had only started less than a minute ago, there were already too many holes in the hull to count; an energy shield barely holding in the ship's atmosphere. So, as any reasonable person would, he ran toward the escape pods. Dragging a nearby soldier and Nufon with him. He forced the two into the pod and prepared to board himself, but at that point a peridot tripped; knocking both themselves and Norg into the pod.

The ship detected no one else attempting to board the pod and jettisoned the pod into space.

* * *

Silence filled the pod as everyone stared at the peridot; Nufon protectively holding the bag with Nephrite's gem away, the soldier and Norg reaching for their weapons.

The peridot slowly held her hands up to show that she meant no harm. And turned her head toward Nufon, "Y- you have the Nephrite's gem, right?"

Nufon blinked, and slowly nodded.

"Well th- that's good. I was part of her c- crew."

Norg got impatient and asked, "What does that have anything to do with anything? She's dead."

The peridot flinched when he began, but realized what he said and looked at him, wide-eyed, "She got sh- shattered?"

Norg began, "What's that supposed to mea-" But was cut off.

The soldier spoke, "Hey how about we all sit down and talk. It's three against one, if she tries anything we'll be fine."

Norg looked at him, upset that he was cut off but realized the soldier had a point. He slightly lowered his weapon and used it to gesture to a seat and ordered, "Sit."

The peridot quickly did as instructed and looked back, nervously.

"Now buckle the seat belt." Norg continued.

The peridot, confused, looked at the seat, then back at Norg, "The what?"

Norg sighed and ordered the soldier to help her. Once she was secured in the seat, Norg secured himself in a seat aswell.

* * *

The pod was silent once more, as everyone tried to think of what to say.

The silence was cut short when the ship AI began speaking, slightly startling everyone on board, "Attention survivors, regardless of what happened to your ship; you have survived and are currently heading to the nearest Belloggan-habitable celestial body. The planetoid you are heading to had been designated: "ESS-956-C-A." And you will most likely arrive in T-27 Hours."

All of the Belloggans on board groaned, clearly upset and confusing the peridot. She was going to ask about it when the ship continued, "You may be confused as to what to do in the time which you will be staying in interplanetary space, do not worry, I am here to assist you all in your survival. In order to cooperate better in your survival efforts, it would be beneficial for you all to introduce yourselves to your fellow survivors. If you already know each other, or have completed your introductions, please press the red button on your armrest."

The four looked around, wondering where to start, or even if they should, when the soldier began speaking, "Hello everyone," he began, gaining everyone's attention, "My name is Belro. I am- 34 cycles old. I've been serving in the Belloggan second fleet for 24 cycles, and uhh.. That's about it."

Everyone looked around to see who would go next, when Norg began, "I am General Norg, and I am 67 cycles old. I have been serving in the Belloggan military for 48 years, and have been a general for 8 cycles."

At that point Nufon introduced himself, "I am Nufon, I was the captain of the ship we recently escaped from. I am 65 cycles old and have been a captain for around 6."

At this point everyone looked at the peridot, and she attempted to introduce herself, "I- I am Peridot Facet-4NFL Cut-1AG, I began serving as an engineer since I emerged which was, uhh... How long is a cycle for your species?"

Nufon lifted a finger, but quickly lowered it, everyone realized that there was no real way to find out, "You know what, that's not important. But we all have a few questions for you. For starters, does all of the members of your species have all those numbers and letters after their names? Also is it alright if we just call you 'Peridot?'"

Peridot responded, "Well, I guess if just calling me 'Peridot' makes it easy for you organics there's no problem with it. And as to your first question, no, not all Gems have serial numbers."

Belro then asked, "What do you mean by 'serial numbers?'"

Peridot answered, "I mean just that, it's a serial number. Gems are mass produced in rocks to serve under their respective diamond."

Norg spoke up, "Is having serial numbers a common thing for 'Gems?' Also who are these diamonds?"

Peridot continued, "All but four Gems have them, the diamonds. The Diamonds are the matriarchs of all of Gemkind. They run the government and design the new Gems, and they're all _perfect!_ Completely flawless! Which is- That's why we follow them."

Nufon remembered a question he had before, "What happened back there? How did all those dead gems come back to life?"

Peridot looked confused, "They weren't dead? They just got poofed?"

All of the Belloggans looked confused, "Wait, so how does that work?"

Peridot answered, "You see, Gems are.. Just that, their gemstone. The gemstone on a Gem is the _actual_ gem. Everything else is just a hard-light projection."

Nufon looked hopeful, and pulled out Nephrite's gem, "So Nephrite isn't dead?"

Peridot looked the gem over, "Nope, but Nephrites tend to take a few days to regenerate. So depending on when she was poofed she'll be back in one to three days."

Nufon smiled and silently thanked whatever force or being created gems to work like that, until Peridot continued, "Although you'll have to be careful, despite how strong a Nephrite's gem is, it's not unheard of for one to get shattered."

Nufon suddenly lost his smile and Belro asked, "What does it mean for a Gem to get 'shattered?'"

Peridot responded, "It's when a gemstone breaks, or gets _shattered_ , hence the name. If a gem gets shattered it's the equivalent of death for an organic."

They all had so many questions for each other, and couldn't wait to ask them all.

" _This is going to be a loong trip._ " Peridot thought, as she got bombarded with more questions.

 **And there's chapter six! I hope you all enjoyed, and don't forget to leave any suggestions or criticisms you may have! I'm always open to improvement! I'll see you all in the next chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again everyone! I know I don't typically talk to you all at the beginning of my chapters, but I have a few things that I felt you all needed to hear. For starters, I don't own Steven Universe, it belongs to all it's respective owners. Secondly, I appreciate all the reviews I get, and wanted to thank those who have reviewed my work. Lastly, if you have any criticisms or ideas of my story, please share them! I use my reviews and critique to improve my writing and appreciate when someone helps me become a better writer! That's all, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

Just over a day later, the pod finally arrived on Earth. It, for lack of a better term, crashed onto a peninsula that would eventually be known as Southern Michigan. On touchdown the pod ignited the nearby forest, startling a few birds and a deer. The pod remained stationary for several minutes, due to the passengers regaining their bearings and insuring that everyone was alright and got a survival kit. Luckily for the Belloggans the atmosphere was breathable, if not too potent. The excess oxygen put all of them on guard; except for Peridot, who scoffed at the organics 'inefficient' need for a breathable atmosphere. The four traveled for what felt like weeks, but was actually just two days, following Peridot who insisted that she knew the best location to set up shop. Despite the Belloggan's doubts, they didn't have anywhere else to go; they had no clue of the geography of the planet, and it was sheer luck that they landed in a place with fresh water. On the third day Nufon was getting antsy, wondering when Nephrite would finally reform.

"Trust me, all Gems have a set reformation period. Some take longer than others but as long as they aren't cracked they wont take any longer than usual." Peridot responded, attempting to get Nufon to shut up.

"Well... Alright.. I guess you are the expert here about Gem anatomy and such." Nufon finished, Peridot not responding but appreciating the compliment.

The four walked for a few more hours until they stumbled upon, what appeared to be, a city. "I didn't know there was intelligent life here?" Belro wondered out loud.

Peridot looked at him, "This is a gem city."

He looked back at her, " _This_ is Homeworld?" He looked back it, and the surrounding forest, "It's a lot nicer than you described."

Peridot scoffed, "Of course this isn't Homeworld you idiot, this is a _colony._ " She turned to it, and it's where we're headed."

Norg stepped in front of Peridot, "Listen, there is no way we're going into that settlement. The last time we had a run-in with you Gems we lost half our fleet!"

"Then how else do you plan to get off this rock?" Peridot deadpanned.

Norg was about to respond but was interrupted, "Norg," Nufon started, "I don't want to go in there as much as you, but she's right. There's no way we're getting off this rock without these Gems knowing. _Two_ ships were able to destroy and incapacitate half our fleet!"

Norg was about to refute Nufon, but was interrupted _again_ by Belro, "Yeah.. I'm going to have to take Nufon's side in this."

The General was at a loss, it was three against one. "Fine." He sighed after a minute of silence, "But if we die it's your faults."

"That's fair." Belro responded, and they were off.

The four entered the crystalline city, the three Belloggans completely awestruck. The city sloping downward, roughly between the two locations that would one day become the cities of Detroit and Chatham-Kent, forming a strange bowl in Lake St. Clair.

"So, why's the city in the middle of a lake?" Norg pondered.

"The locations of structures are based on the final colony, not the colonization process. A structure could wind up being in the middle of the deepest part of an ocean and it wouldn't matter. Besides, it's not like Gems can't produce structures in bad conditions anyway." Peridot explained.

"And uhh.. Why isn't there anyone here?" Nufon asked.

Peridot then took a second to look around, and sure enough the streets _were_ empty. "You know, that actually is strange." The four looked around for a minute, until Peridot called them over to some sort of screen.

On the screen there was a pearl reading out the news, "And in other news, the newfound space-faring civilization has been declared an enemy of the Empire."

"Damnit!" Norg exclaimed, before quickly being shushed.

The pearl continued, "All of the workers on the ships that have been retrieved, Gem and alien, have been transported to the Terran city of Aqua-Firma for execution."

Everyone's eye's widened at that, "Execution!?" Peridot yelled, the others not bothering to quiet her as the pearl began listing off names, probably of criminals.

"No no no nO NO NO!" Peridot began shouting to herself before being brought back to reality by Belro.

"Calm yourself! What is the problem?" He asked.

Peridot looked at him, clearly distraught, "My entire squad was on that ship!"

Everyone looked at Peridot except for Norg, who was looking for any more useful information on the news report. He was still shocked, however.

"Well then we have a squad to save!" Belro announced, unopposed. During the wait to Earth Peridot's squad had been brought up, through some questioning the Belloggans were able to find that the Gem squads were the closest things Gems had to family.

Norg finally turned around, "And we have to save all that we can of our crew. How do we get to this place?"

"We have to use warp pads." Peridot stated, "The warp pad should be fairly empty except for two Gems, an agate and her pearl. One of my squad mates is on good terms with the pearl so we'll just have to take out the Agate. And all we'll have to do is-" She was cut off.

"Woah woah woah," Norg interrupted, "How do you know all this? I thought you mentioned this was a new colony back on the pod?"

"Gems work fast," She explained, "The only trouble Gems have with colonization is the digging. Now, can we please get back to planning?"

Norg nodded and they got back to work. The plan was actually fairly simple, according to Peridot; due to the news pearl announcing that Peridot was on the wanted list and the other three members of the group not being gems, after they got past the Agate and added the pearl to their ranks; they would stick to the maintenance tunnels until they weren't too far from where the execution was taking place. Once they exited the tunnels they would split up, Norg and Belro causing a distraction. Peridot, the pearl, and Nufon going to a nearby armory and taking as much of the confiscated Bellogan weaponry as they could carry, then running up to arm as many prisoners as they could when the distraction was put in place. Once the prisoners were armed, they would fight their way to the Gem dropships, hijack one and hightail their way back to the safety of the Bellogan fleet. All they had to do was hope nothing would go wrong...

* * *

The four ran to the warp pad and readied their weapons. Once they warped the agate was quickly taken care of, startling the pearl.

"OH MY STARS!" She screamed as she ducked for cover.

"Hey! It's alright, it's just me!" Peridot attempted to dispel the pearl's worries, but failed due to her tone being more demanding then she'd hoped. " _How anyone can do this is beyond me.._ " She thought before continuing, "I'm not here to hurt you, we're here to save your friend from my squad!"

This got the pearl's attention, "What happened to her?" She asked, still nervous.

"She's about to be unjustly executed in front of all the Gems on Earth! That's why this place is so empty!" Peridot responded.

The pearl thought for a moment, stood up, and looked at Peridot, "Let's do this!"

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Peridot cheered.

Before the five headed out, and Peridot started filling the pearl in on the plan, Norg asked, "So what do we call you? So far we've just called everyone their Gem type, so should we just call you 'Pearl'?"

She thought for a moment, and agreed to the name, "I like it." And left it at that.

The five never even recalled the Agate they failed to properly contain...

Once the five entered the maintenance tunnels Pearl was brought up to speed, "Alright we go in, grab the weapons, wait for a distraction, and quickly hand them out to everyone with restraints. But.. What do we do about the restraints?" Pearl inquired.

Peridot responded, "The restraints don't properly restrain anyone, while they can poof a Gem if they separate their hands enough there's still enough flexibility available for weapon usage. Aside from Gem weapons."

"Ah, I understand." Pearl finished.

After several minutes of silence the five reached a hatch, "This is it." Peridot announced. They slowly exited into an alley. After looking around and finding the coast was clear, Peridot gave Norg and Belro the location of the dropships. They then split up, "Alright you two, the armory should be this way."

They then walked down the alley until they found themselves upon a road, after passing several buildings Peridot stopped and looked at a sign above the door. Nufon couldn't read it, but trusted that it was the right building. Once they entered they found themselves in front of around 30 Belloggan soldier's worth of weapons.

"Alright you two this is what we're here for." Nufon announced, "You want to grab the large weapons first, they may be heavy but they are ridiculously powerful."

Nufon then grabbed as much as he could carry and turned around to Pearl putting everything into her Gem and Peridot having several guns just floating around her. Once Pearl finished storing everything she could, she turned to see Nufon looking at the two. Clearly confused he attempted to ask but stopped, "I'll ask later."

They then found a good spot to wait, around them was a large crowd of Gems surrounding what appeared to be a stage. On the stage was tons of Gems and about 10 Belloggan soldiers. The Gems were sorted by type and squad, the squad they were there for being near the edge of the stage. After a few minutes of waiting, someone they did not want to see appeared: Pink Diamond...

Pink Diamond appeared to be 30 feet tall! Although, of course, as only the Diamonds and their pearls knew she was simply shape-shifting. The other diamonds forbid her to be seen at her regular size by any ordinary Gem.

After what felt like hours, she spoke, "Attention everyone," she began, quieting the crowds surrounding the stage, "These Gems here have been weak, and failed at a _simple_ task. They were tasked at destroying an organic settlement and failed miserably."

"Wait, what?" Peridot whispered, only the other two hearing her.

Pink Diamond continued, "And these organics," she glared at the soldiers, "were the ones who managed to stop these Gems." She looked around and put her hands together, "And in order to set an example for all of you, we are executing these _pathetic_ excuses for Gems publicly. To start," She clapped her hands and a quartz pulled a Ruby from the line up. "This Ruby allowed a criminal to run free." The quartz knocked her to the ground and stood back. Pink Diamond rose her foot, "This is _not_ acceptable." She stomped her foot to the ground. Everyone flinched, especially the three.

Nufon looked back only to see Pink Diamond grinding her foot into the ground, reducing the poor ruby to powder. "How could she just do that!?" The other two did not respond.

Then, several quartzes grabbed Peridot's squad and pushed them to the spot where the ruby was shattered. Peridot gasped and tried to move to help, and had to be restrained by both Nufon and Pearl. "Wait for the signal!" Nufon stage whispered to Peridot.

Peridot did not stop trying to escape when Pink Diamond raised her foot, but before she could do the same to them as she did the ruby a building not too far exploded. Peridot looked back at the two of them, "That's the signal."

The three then jumped down, following through with the plan. The majority of the crowd had ran in the opposite direction of the explosion, trying to avoid the conflict. Pink Diamond scoffed and kicked the group of peridots to the side; shattering one; cracking another, poofing them; and poofing one other. There was only one peridot in the group not incapacitated. Peridot ran over to assist them.

Pearl began handing out weapons to the captive Gems, telling them where everyone was heading. None of the Gems protested, preferring not to be ground to dust today.

Nufon ran to the other Bellogans, giving them their weapons until a light began shining from his bag. He opened it and took Nephrite's gem out, and sure enough it was glowing.

* * *

Nephrite was finally reforming. She was a bit groggy, and attempting to remember what had happened prior to her being poofed. " _I was being chased.._ " She remembered, " _Then I was fighting a group of... What were they again?_ " Things were getting clearer, she heard many loud sounds, unsure of what they were she got back to thinking, " _Then I think I was... Shot? By one of the things... Stars that hurt.._ " She then remembered where she was before she was poofed, and quickly grabbed her arm where she'd been shot. " _It's gone.. What happened?_ " Her surroundings were finally clear, she was in a city.. With lots of fire, and... Shards... However, before she could continue her observations she was handed something heavy.

"Good to have you back!" She heard a familiar voice say, she looked up to see Nufon.

"What happened?" She frantically asked, trying to figure out how the strange weaponry worked.

"We'll explain later, just defend yourself and get to those ships!" He exclaimed, pointing to the ships in the distance.

"Got it!" She replied, holding the gun backwards. She fired and accidentally hit a flammable container across the area which exploded, shattering several Gems. She quickly turned the gun around. "How is this thing so powerful!?" She shouted to Nufon.

He barely heard her, "I got no clue!" He responded, "I'm a soldier/pilot, I have no clue how the weapons work!"

She shrugged it off and ran into the action. A quartz recognized her from the wanted list and jumped to her, knocking her off balance and changing the mode the weapon was on. She aimed it at the quartz as fast as she could and, instead of firing a single shot, her gun fired a constant laser which sliced the quartz's gem cleanly in half. Once she recovered from shock, she realized the weapon was still on. Nephrite looked around the gun for a switch of some sort, but found none. As she defended herself, she accidentally destroyed several buildings, one of which being near Pink Diamond. Who had finally noticed the laser being wildly swung around.

Nephrite's gun had failed to turn off, and the end was heating up, nearly becoming white hot before melting off. Making the gun which previously resembled a large rifle look more like a strange SMG. Pink diamond picked up a nearby piece of debris and threw it at Nephrite. She was too focused on trying to turn the gun off to notice and was completely knocked off balance, however it finally turned the gun off. But it knocked it out of her hand. Luckily for Nephrite it wasn't too far and she quickly aimed it back at Pink Diamond, however when she fired, the gun failed to respond. Rightfully believing the thing was busted, Nephrite threw what was now a strangely-shaped red hot chunk of metal at Pink Diamond, who knocked it away from her as if Nephrite had merely thrown a crumpled up piece of paper at her. Yet regardless of the damage, or lack of, it did: Pink Diamond was pissed off.

* * *

Nufon had been helping his soldiers fight off any enemies who dared approach the stupidly overpowered ensemble of soldiers when he noticed Pink Diamond had come back. He looked to see what she was doing, and realized that she was charging toward Nephrite! He told the soldiers where he was going and sprinted off to help.

Once he was within 50 meters of the two he pulled out his rifle and set it to 'Obliterate,' he hoped it would do as intended, but based on what Peridot had said of the Diamonds it would likely work as an effective 'Stun'. He aimed it at Pink Diamond's head and fired, completely decapitating the tyrant. However, due to a Gem's physiology of being holograms her head was back in seconds.

Pink Diamond looked at Nufon with a face full of unrelenting rage. Nufon only got upset that she wasn't dead, so he fired again. And again.. And again... Completely annihilating her legs and half of her face. As Nephrite had predicted days before, the pain was far too much for a Diamond. She screamed, effectively stopping all the fighting. Many of the Gems loyal to her ran up, but were warded off when Nufon threatened to do the same to them. Once Nufon was certain that no one would backstab him, he turned to the Diamond. She was staring at him eyes wide, full of rage, respect, and fear. He walked up to her and stopped several meters short, Nufon stared at her until he spoke, "You made enemies with the wrong race today."

Pink Diamond didn't know what to make of the statement, and didn't have much time to think before everyone who fought alongside Nufon quickly began scrambling towards the dropship before the enemy could consider their next move. Pink Diamond's pearl ran up to her, "My Diamond! Are you alright?" She frantically asked.

Pink Diamond looked over to the retreating crowd, only to realize that Nufon and Nephrite had stopped and turned back to look at her. Nufon's expression was full of pent-up rage and resent. Nephrite however, she just looked disappointed.. The two locked eye contact with her for several seconds before following everyone else in running to the ship.

She stared off into space for several minutes, pondering what the two's expressions meant. Blind to everything, before she came to a realization. A realization she would not be able to share at the moment, as the majority of the crowd near her had given chase to the enemy crowd.

* * *

Nufon and Nephrite regrouped with Pearl and Peridot, who was now being followed by a friend during the dash to the escape ship. Due to the two having done the dramatic stare back to Pink Diamond, they were among the last to reach the ship. Once on board they were greeted by Norg and Belro, who congratulated them in having defeated Pink Diamond. Luckily for everyone, the other Nephrite had decided that the Gem Empire wasn't so great and promptly began to launch the dropship. The doors sealed, blocking the view of the small army that had been chasing them. Everyone settled down, satisfied to be free of the hell hole they'd just fought through.

"Well, that was something." Belro started, attempting to lighten the mood.

"You can say that again." Nephrite agreed.

"Well, that was something!" Belro exclaimed jokingly, getting a laugh out of everyone in the group.

The ship began soaring away from the city, before there was suddenly a large bout of turbulence. "What is happening!?" Nephrite demanded answers from no one in particular. Then suddenly there was an explosion from somewhere in the ship, immediately killing the power. The backup power came on but was quickly fading, the Nephrite in the bridge announced over the intercom that they had been shot by something, believing it to be a defense turret from the city.

Peridot began, "A turret!? Those are only manual! Everyone was assisting Pink Diamond or chasing us!"

Pearl then looked pale... Well paler than she already was, and spoke, "We never dealt with My Agate did we?"

Everyone in the group paled as the ship was quickly falling back to earth.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a strange-looking control room was a very angry Agate. Who was looking very proud of herself.

 **And there's number seven! I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Don't forget to say any advice you may have, and I hope the wait was worth it! See you all next week!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again! I just wanted to remind you all that I do not own Steven Universe, only my own characters. Steven Universe belongs to all it's respective owners. And don't forget to comment if you have anything to say, and I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

As the dropship plummeted to the Earth, the only sound you could hear from inside was the sounds of the occupants panicking. The power had fully died several seconds ago, and they were all bathed in darkness. Due to the emergency power having completely failed, the escape pods failed to operate; and everyone was trapped on the ship. Many gems were attempting to tear holes in the hull to escape, but were failing. Suddenly, the sound of heavy rains and hail could be heard pounding the exterior hull; they had fallen into a storm. Violent winds shook the ship, sending several Gems tumbling elsewhere in the ship. Then, out of nowhere, the ship was suddenly stuck by a bolt of lightning sending an electrical surge through the ship. All electronic items were fried or activated immediately, including the hangar door. Everyone in the hangar were immediately sucked out through the opening, only to begin falling to the water below.

Our heroes were among those in the hangar and, as explained, were sucked out. They watched as the ship fell to the shoreline of an unknown landmass, only to crumple like tinfoil upon impact; shattering everyone inside instantaneously. The petrified group watched as the ship then exploded, creating a new bay along the unlucky coast. The shockwave from the explosion leveled the nearby forests and mountains, throwing boulders the size of buses like pebbles. An unlucky Quartz was hit by one of the boulders and dragged into the deep, dark depths of the ocean. The rest of the survivors hit the ocean surface, one of the Bellogan soldiers and a ruby were swept out to sea together, quickly disappearing over the horizon. The remainder of the group swam with all their might to the coast, rocks still being flown around. Water and rocks boiling, flinging molten rock around, and killing anything left which managed to survive through the previous chaos.

At this point, if the group thought that nothing else could go wrong they'd be wrong, as several Gem search ships passed through the clouds. Nearly blinding everyone as they were swimming for their life. One of the ships began scanning the area, quickly locating the unlucky group. The ships then began abducting the swimmers as a Bellogan soldier shot one down, causing another round of explosions to shake the area. The ship had been an experimental one, in how it used a strange energy source which released amounts of radiation that made Uranium seem harmless. The surrounding area was bathed in levels of radiation that would completely sterilize all of the land up to the horizon. It would have killed the Bellogans had their armor not been able to withstand it, however two had tears in their armor and were immediately fried; others grabbing their weapons and continuing to swim. Afraid that something similar would happen again if another was shot down, the soldiers ceased their firing and swam faster than ever.

A few of the Gems reached the coast and began helping the other survivors up, the ships continuing to abduct them. Two more ships arrived and landed on the coast, which each dumped out a platoon of loyal Quartz soldiers and flew back up beyond the clouds. The soldiers began charging toward the survivors, the soldiers of both races which had made it to the coast preparing to face them. The last of the survivors making it to the shore as two more troop transport ships appeared through the clouds. Realizing they were outmatched, the survivors began sprinting across the red hot rock to the charred forests beyond. The new transports attempting to cut them off, but being deterred back to the coast. Several of the soldiers running up and tackling the survivors, beating them until they were dust or a burnt, bloody pulp. One of the soldiers barely grabbed Nephrite by the leg and pushing her to the floor.

"Ha! Gotcha!" The quartz yelled at the terrified Gem.

The Quartz swung her weapon down. Too scared to even see what it was, Nephrite shut her eyes. She hoped her death would be painless, but knowing how Quartzes were she knew she'd be in agony. Possibly being brought to the Quartz barracks to be constantly beaten and abused for the rest of her life. Or perhaps she'd be locked in cell for the rest of eternity, slowly losing her sanity in a permanent darkness. But before she felt the distinct feeling of her Gem splitting or breaking, a voice shouted over the chaos, "Don't touch her!" And the weight of the Quartz vanished.

Nephrite looked up to see that the Quartz had been poofed. She looked around to see that she'd gained the attention of the other Quartzes, who did not look happy. Not hesitating, she turned back to the forest and began running side-by-side with her savior, Nufon. "Thanks!" She shouted over the chaos. Nufon nodded and continued running.

They saw that the rest of the group was a fair distance ahead, and put in all their strength. Once they managed to catch up, the group continued running until a clearing appeared ahead with several enemy ships. Before they were noticed, they all turned left until they heard someone from the clearing shout, "Hey! They're over there!"

Not wanting to be caught, for obvious reasons, they attempted to evade capture. As they were running one of the soldiers fell through a hole in the ground which was covered in leaves. Another soldier looked in, hoping they'd be able to help him escape when they noticed that is was like an entrance of some sort. They got everyone's attention, "Hey guys! Down here!" And jumped down.

The other survivors quickly followed, Gems and Bellogans alike, one of the Gems attempted to recover the hole but retreated when one of the patrols got too close.

The group waited for several minutes in silence before a Bellogan soldier spoke, "It should be clear by now-" But was quickly silenced. A Gem silently explained how a Gem patrol can stay in a single area for several hours at a time, much to the dismay of the soldiers.

After several more minutes a group of the soldiers decided to search the cave for anything of interest. Everyone else couldn't have cared less, but made sure to tell them not to make a sound.

While they were waiting, several Gems became accustom to the tradition of having names. A Lapis Lazuli taking an especially large interest in it, who decided to call themselves 'Ocean.' While the Bellogans didn't believe it was too good of a name, they agreed to call her it regardless.

Several hours later the sounds on the surface cleared and everyone wanted to leave, but couldn't without the other soldiers; who had yet to return. After a vote; Nephrite, Nufon, and Pearl were chosen to search for the three. Despite disagreement to Pearl joining, the opposition faded when everyone realized no one else wanted to go.

The three searched the cave to find that it was much larger than they'd originally thought. Pearl made the observation that it appeared to be mostly artificial, the other two agreeing. They passed several tunnels which had collapsed until they found one that was mostly intact. After several minutes of search, they deduced that the one tunnel was the only way the soldiers could have gone. They entered and slowly walked down, only to find that there were lights coming in through cracks in the wall. Through thorough investigation they were able to find that it was artificial. The group continued through the cave until they found themselves in a large, dark cavern. Nephrite used her Gem as a flashlight and caught sight of a large artificial structure. It was clearly not of Gem origin, but couldn't not have been. Despite what was clearly years of wear and tear, the building was completely white. It had a part extending out with several white pillars, and a triangular top. There were several windows on each side, none of which revealing anything as they were completely dark.

"What is that?" Nufon asked nobody in particular.

"I have no idea," Nephrite responded, "But it looks like this planet has an intelligent civilization that the scanners failed to detect."

"Are they friendly?" Pearl nervously asked.

Nufon looked at her, "Who knows?" He spoke, shrugging his shoulders.

Nephrite took a step forward, "It looks abandoned, but this is the only place those three could have gone. So I say we go in."

Pearl looked at her like she grew a second head, "Are you crazy!?" She stage whispered, "It could be a trap!"

"It could be," Nufon responded, "But we can't just go back without them."

Pearl clearly regretted joining this expedition, and reluctantly followed. Pulling two of the smaller weapons from her gem, giving one to Nephrite, she walked forward. She stopped at the pillars, allowing someone else to go first. Nufon immediately stepped forward to the open door and slowly entered. He looked around to find a, while primitive, rather fancy interior. Nephrite entered next, "Stars, this place is fancy."

Nufon was about to agree when they heard a gasp from behind them. The two turned around to find Pearl littered with holes, luckily none through her gem. She poofed and the two stared at the gem for a few seconds. Nephrite quickly grabbed it and put it in her gem, grabbed Nufon, and pulled him to the cave they entered through. Nufon followed, not wanting to be killed by an unknown enemy, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked at it to find that there was a hole going through it. Luckily the wound was cauterized so he couldn't bleed out. He then realized that Nephrite had also stopped, after turning to her he found out why; her legs looked like Swiss cheese. He then turned and aimed his weapon into the darkness, "Show yourself you cowards!" He yelled out to whoever had attacked them, silently demanding revenge.

Several seconds of silence passed when they heard a voice, "Put your weapons down!"

Nephrite immediately obliged, not wanting to get poofed again, but Nufon was having none of it, "WHY SHOULD I? WHY DON'T YOU COME OUT HERE AND WE SETTLE THIS ONE ON ONE!"

Several more seconds of silence passed when Nufon was about to speak again, but was interrupted by Nephrite, "Nufon?"

He was about to explain himself when he realized, they didn't know what these things were capable of- They didn't even know what they were! So, reluctantly, he slowly placed his weapon on the ground and stepped back.

The voice returned, "Get on the ground and keep your arms and legs behind your back!" They complied.

They then heard footsteps, Nephrite attempted to turn to look at them but was yelled at, "DON'T MOVE!" She turned back around and stayed in place until she felt something being placed around her wrists. " _Great, we're being restrained._ " She thought to herself.

Then, the voice returned, "Alright, get up." Nufon got up, still turned away from the voice. Nephrite hadn't moved. " _Now._ " It continued.

"I can't." Nephrite responded.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" The voice responded with enough annoyance to fill an Olympic pool.

"Because you shot my legs about 50 times!" Nephrite near-shouted.

The voice sighed, "Pick her up and lets get inside."

Nephrite was then lifted off the ground and carried to the structure, Nufon followed.

The figure who'd shouted at them spoke into something, which Nufon could only assume was some sort of communication device, when the building which previously appeared vacant lit up with activity. Several strange figures came out to guard the doors and observe the two. Once Nufon got a good look at them he realized something, they appeared to be Bellogans.. But without their signature compound-eye. They passed through the entrance, which appeared about as worn down as the outside of the building. They passed several rooms when they entered a part of the facility that appeared to be new. It looked very different from the entrance, mostly made of metals instead of whatever the front was made of. They entered a large room with nothing much besides a few doorways, catwalks, and two clear cubes in the center. One of the cubes was empty, but in the other... "Idiots..." Nufon scowled under his breath. Nephrite and Nufon were placed in the empty cube, Nephrite placed on a steel chair on account of her injuries. And the cube was sealed.

The figures who'd brought them to the room left, leaving them alone. After several minutes of checking for any weaknesses, a few of the figures appeared. They were smaller than the others, and they were looking at the two. That was when they found that it was soundproofed, as they couldn't hear anything that the figures were saying.

Nufon attempted to frighten them off by looking threatening, but they only appeared to laugh. Believing they were mocking him, he punched the wall; which only made them jump. They then went to the other side of the cube, where Nephrite was checking the damage to her legs. She didn't notice them observing her, or if she did she made no sign of it. Nufon asked her, "What do you think they're saying?"

Nephrite turned to Nufon, then to the figures who were watching her. She noticed that they were definitely talking about something, one of them then pulled out what appeared to be a strange golden chain. They held it forward and Nephrite looked at it, then violently jumped back; knocking the chair over. Which elicited a laugh from them. She quickly grabbed the closest thing she could, which was Nufon's leg, and held on to it like if she let go she'd fall into the jaws of an angry, gem-eating monster.

"What's wrong?!" Nufon worriedly asked her.

"T- T- Th-" She was clearly terrified.

"Shhh," he responded, kneeling down to give her a comforting hug, "What's the problem."

Nephrite tried to speak, but nothing but indecipherable murmurs were heard. She ended up just pointing to the chain. Nufon stood up and slowly walked over to it checking it out. The figure held it out again, stifling a laugh. Nufon observed it, it seemed harmless. Just a long gold chain with a few gemstones attached to- " _Oh._ " He thought.

Nufon stepped back, much to the disappointment of the group, and helped Nephrite back onto the chair. At this point Nephrite refused to look at anything outside of the cube. Shaking, she continued checking the damage. Every time the figures went near the glass, Nufon would attempt to break through to them; failing every time. About six minutes later, a voice spoke through a speaker somewhere in the cube, "So, we have a few questions for you."

Nufon looked around until he saw one of the taller figures on one side of the cube, "What do you want?" He asked, his voice soaked in venom.

The figure spoke, "You see, we have some questions that need answering which you might be able to help with."

"And why would we ever want to help _you?_ " He responded, the malice never leaving for a second.

"Because," the figure continued, "If you don't we'll turn your friend there into a necklace."

Nufon was shocked. He looked over to Nephrite to see that she was staring at the figure, eyes wide with complete and unmasked terror, "Is that what that _thing_ was?"

The figure nodded, and Nephrite jumped off the chair and quickly fell to her knees due to her injuries, "Please! We'll do whatever you want!" She pleaded.

They smiled maliciously, "Excellent! Allow me to introduce myself, I am Doctor Theo Hart, but please just call me Doctor."

"Alright _Doctor_ ," Nufon spoke sarcastically, "Where exactly are we?"

"Ah! I am glad you asked," Theo responded, "You are on Earth, in a place we humans refer to as 'the United States'. You are currently in a famous building known as the 'White House'."

* * *

 _Roughly twelve minutes ago_

"Sir, there's been a perimeter breach!" A soldier spoke over a radio.

"Damnit! How many of them?!" A man in a suit asked.

"There's three. Two of which we've never seen before, the third appears to be one of the servants." The soldier responded.

"What do the other two look like?" The man asked.

"One is wearing a heavy suit of armor, the second appears to be similar to the servants in size and shape, but the rock is the wrong color."

"Set this place into lockdown until we can kill or capture them. Have everyone prepared to pack up and torch the place if necessary."

"Yes sir!" The soldier responded before heading out to defend the base.

The man turned to Theo, "You head down there too, I want every last detail of what happens."

"Yes sir!" Theo saluted the man and ran to write his report.

 _There are three intruders; one heavily covered in metallic armor, an extra-terrestrial which has been identified to be the species servants, and one which resembles the servant heavily yet cannot be due to several physical features. For ease of writing, I will refer to them as 'A,' 'S,' and 'G' accordingly._

 _A, S, and G had a small dispute over entering through Entrance A of the facility; which, due to standard lockdown procedure, has been altered to appear abandoned. A and G entered the facility. S was terminated. A and G ran toward the exit but were stopped, A taking minor damage to the shoulder and G being incapacitated through extensive injuries to the legs._

 _A and G were then restrained and transported to containment, G being given a steel chair on account of the damage to it's legs. Several minutes after arrival a group of children arrived to observe the two- Why we let children in here is beyond me. The children began to harass the two, below is a rough audio transcript of what I could hear from the cell's microphone and the group:_

 _"Look at these two monsters."_

 _"Complete freaks. Let's turn them into jewelry!"_

 _At this point A attempts to break through the glass, startling the children._

 _"Eh, this one's boring. Let's mess with the other one."_

 _They moved around to the side where G was sitting, it appeared to be examining the damage done to it's legs._

 _"Imaging how many rings you could make out of that!" They are referring to G's gemstone._

 _"What do you think it'll think of my necklace?"_

 _A then spoke: "What...[do you believe they are]...talking about?"_

 _One of the children then held out their diamond necklace for G to observe._ _G looked at the necklace and jumped back, knocking it's chair over. Causing the children to laugh._

 _"Yeah! This is what we're going to do to you!"_

 _A then attempted to console G, which appeared to be in a state of panic. A observed the necklace and continued to attempt to calm G. Any time the children approach it would attempt to attack them._

 _I'm going to try to interview them._

* * *

 _Back to the present_

"Alright, answer honestly and quickly and this will be all the less painful for the three of us." Theo reminded the two. Getting a slight nod from Nephrite and a low growl from Nufon. "To start, what do you call your species?"

Nephrite looked at Nufon, to see that he was unlikely to speak, and turned to Theo, "We're two different species. The one you're likely interested in are 'Gems.'"

Theo wrote something down in his notebook and looked back up, "If you're a 'Gem' then what's your friend?"

She was about to respond when Nufon spoke, barely loud enough to be heard, "Bellogan."

He wrote something else down and looked up, "Alright for now I'll ask about these 'Gems.' For starters, what is the extent of your species military?"

Nephrite thought for a moment, "It's mostly just colonization equipment, aside from that there's a few warships. As far as I know that's it."

Theo thought for a moment, and wrote another thing down, "What is the weakest point of a 'Gem?'"

Nephrite gulped and reluctantly responded, "The Gemstone."

"Would you like to elaborate on that?"

"No."

"Alright then," he spoke before writing something down, "Are there more of you?"

Nephrite looked at him for a moment, "What do you mean?"

"Your species tends to show up in groups," Theo explained, "How many more of you are there?"

Nephrite looked nervously, "Including the two of us there's thirty-five. B- but we're not hostile!" She quickly attempted to explain, "We're completely against the other Gems!"

Theo looked shocked at the size of their group, and wrote something down, "Alright, and to end this off, what was the blue light that appeared around the planet when your race first arrived?" He read from the paper before looking up at the two of them.

Nephrite and Nufon were confused, "The what?" Nephrite asked.

Theo now looked annoyed, "The bright blue force field thing at the start of your invasion! What was that?"

Nephrite thought for a minute before drawing a blank, "I don't know what you mean."

Theo sighed and wrote one more thing down, "Alright, we'll arrive back shortly with the rest of your group, you can then explain yourselves to our leaders then." He then walked away.

Nufon was going to pound on the glass, demanding answers, but stopped. Realizing that there was nothing he could do to stop his friends from being captured, he sat down with his head in his hands. Nephrite not looking too happy with herself. Much to the children's disappointment, neither acknowledged their presence.

All they could do now was wait...

...

...

...

But Nufon didn't want to wait.

These creatures had fairly advanced technology and would likely imprison the others as well. Who knows where they came from, let alone what they want. He began looking for any weaknesses in the glass, anything he could use in any way...

But he found nothing.

" _Damnit._ " He thought.

He punched the glass, but nothing happened. He punched it again, and nothing happened. He punched it one more time, about to give up he turned around.

When he heard a very faint _crack._

Every head in the room turned to the glass, and sure enough, there was a small sliver of a fracture.

Nufon didn't hesitate to throw everything he had at the glass, causing everyone outside to begin panicking. He broke through the sound proof layer and heard all hell breaking loose.

"- _REAKING THROUGH THE GLASS! SEND US EVERYONE YOU'VE GOT!_ " A panicked voice shouted among the chaos.

To the Bellogan soldiers, this did not go unnoticed. They began throwing punch after punch at the wall, and sure enough, their's cracked too.

Nephrite had watched as the whole thing happened. Using the small mount of energy she'd built up during the time she was imprisoned, she repaired enough of her legs that it wouldn't hurt to stand. Folding up the chair she'd been provided into a makeshift crutch, she walked over to Nufon. She turned her face until she was staring eye-to-eye with the being who had the necklace. They stared back, and Nephrite grinned a wicked smile.

The glass broke.

Nufon ran over to free the soldiers while Nephrite made her way over to the one with the necklace, who led her somewhere else in the facility. She lost track of them and began searching when she found a room. There was one thing about the room that piqued her interest, despite her not being able to read the label on the door, the door was _open_. Every other door she'd attempted to use failed to respond (Mainly because she didn't know how to use them.). Not wasting time, she entered the room. She looked around when she realized where she was, " _This is the armory!_ " She gleefully thought. Not hesitating, she grabbed a weapon that resembled the stupidly powerful gun she'd gotten from Nufon when she first reformed when she noticed something...

The gun was arguably _not_ of Bellogan origin. While it did resemble the weapon she'd used previously, it had notable differences. Not caring about where it came from and just hoping it worked, she pulled the trigger.. Only for a chunk of metal to fly out of the barrel. Just happy it worked, Nephrite made her way out of the room.

Outside of the room was someone she didn't want to see again.. " _Doctor..._ " She said, aiming the weapon at the man.

Theo turned to look at Nephrite and visibly paled, "Oh! Uhhh- Hello!" He spoke, attempting to calm her down.

"Don't even try that, you're coming with me." She responded, trying not to put too much weight on the chair.

"And why's tha-" He started, before realizing something, "You don't know how to use that, do you?"

Nephrite got angry and shot the wall behind him, surprising the man, "I guess I was wrong then! L- Lead the way!" He responded.

She brought him to the place where they were kept, Nufon was interrogating a scientist, "WHERE DID YOU PUT OUR GUNS?"

The scientist yelped and answered, "Down the East hall, f- fourth room to the right."

Nufon ordered two of the soldiers to check if he was right and looked up to see Nephrite holding Theo at gunpoint. He walked over to Nephrite and nodded at her, looking back at Theo he spoke, "Well well well... Look what we've got here."

Theo flinched and spoke, "Ok l- look, I know I seemed a bit tough on you but these _things_ invaded our planet!" Gesturing to Nephrite, "If you were in our situation you'd do the same!"

Nufon thought for a moment when the two soldiers returned, holding as many weapons as they could carry. Nufon ordered one of the soldiers to keep Theo with them, when Theo asked, "C- can I go get something from my office?"

Nufon looked at him and squinted his eyes, "Why should I let you?"

Theo began sweating, "I- Personally, I would like to have peace between our races, honestly. The only reason we brought you here was because we didn't have any other choice! There were eight billion people on the planet when they invaded, and now there's-" He spoke before being silenced by Nufon putting his hand in the air.

"You know what, I don't care. Go get it." He sighed, turning to one of the soldiers, "Make sure he doesn't run off or grab a weapon." He turned to the other two soldiers, "Go get the rest of our group, we'll take everything of value in this place and head out one of the back exits."

The two soldiers ran off and Nufon turned to Nephrite, "How are your legs?"

Nephrite looked down at them and responded, "It doesn't hurt when I use them now, so that's good."

Nufon nodded and turned to one of the exits, and paused before asking, "So what do we do after we head out of here?"

Nephrite asked what he meant and he continued, "I mean like, clearly there's some sort of time dilation happening here. Peridot told us the Gem armada arrived at this planet several days ago, but's already completed so much of the colonization process. I don't care what kind of technology you have, but that is not achievable in a few days.. So how would we manage to get off world?"

Nephrite thought for a moment and realized he had a point, "To be completely honest, I have no clue."

Nufon looked down and shook his head, "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it then."

Nephrite had no clue what that meant, but nodded anyway. While the two were waiting she tore the sheets of metal off from the chair and used them as a cast, she could now walk easily again. Once the groups arrived the ones who were waiting at the entrance's numbers were halved. They explained how the patrols returned, took most of them, and are now searching the tunnels.

Nufon asked Theo, "Where's the exit?"

Theo looked at the captain, "Follow me, I know the way."

The last of their group was leaving through the door opposite to the one they entered through when a Quartz broke through the front. They turned to see the group leaving and the group turned to see the Gem, "RUN!" One of them shouted. Remembering what happened on the coast, none of them wasted any time following Theo.

They arrived at a garage, there were a few military transport trucks with one being loaded. The soldiers in the truck noticed the new arrivals and hit the gas, presumably following the rest of the convoy. Theo instructed the Gems to get into one of the trucks; due to their numbers being so drastically reduced they were all able to fit into one, Theo got into the driver's seat. He hit the gas just as the Quartz soldiers who'd invaded the facility broke through the door they'd come through. Quickly reaching the convoy, they watched as the base they'd just escaped and the mountains surrounding it fall apart in a flash of light. After the glow subsided, they saw a huge mushroom cloud slowly rising into the sky. The truck entered a cave of some sort, luckily blocking the view of the local forests being torn out of the ground and being flung for miles.

"Alright everyone." Theo started, "Now that we're in the clear can you _please_ explain yourselves?"

Nephrite looked at him from the passenger seat, "Why _should_ we?"

Theo sighed, "Because if you're friendly, _as you told me_ , we need to know about each other."

Nephrite crossed her arms and looked out the window, "It's too long of a story."

"The place we're going to is on the opposite side of the continent, the shortest trip would be..." He looked at the trucks clock and sighed, "With the 'Gems' everywhere I'd say a week minimum."

Nephrite sighed, "Alright then, _fine_.. It all started when we got here..."

* * *

 **And that's number eight! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and yes! This currently takes place in an AU where the Gems invade the modern world instead of the ancient world! I saw a theory about it somewhere and couldn't help myself!**

 **Also, I had my doubts about this chapter while I was writing it. Did you like it?**

 **Also, please be sure to comment if you have any suggestions or questions on the chapter! And I'll see you all next week!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Steven universe belongs to all it's respective owners.**

Nephrite explained all the events that had transpired since her arrival to Earth, Theo was surprised at a few parts but was overall unimpressed.

"So you had to watch a few Gems die, big whoop."

Shortly after she had finished telling the story Theo decided to call in to the rest of the convoy to tell them the Gems he was carrying were friendly, they thought it would be best to question them first and changed route to a base somewhere in Nevada. Sadly, due to several large Gem machines and facilities in central America the trip would be delayed a few days. During the time they were traveling, in between waiting for Gem patrols to pass and clearing out rubble so the convoys could proceed, the group had discovered that several decades had passed since the arrival of the Gem armada; proving Nufon's previous suspicions correct.

Peridot was likely the most shocked over the revelation, since she was there for most of the technological innovations that would be put to test during the Earth campaign. She'd never heard anything about a time-distortion device, but it did explain how the structures were seemingly created so quickly.

The convoy stopped abruptly, startling the Gems inside.

"Hey? What gives?" One of the Quartzes shouted from the back.

"I don't know," Theo responded, "The truck in front of me just stopped."

Suddenly a message came over the radio, "Hey Theo, you don't suppose those 'Gems' of yours can pick this thing up eh? Over."

Theo pressed a button, "What are you referring to? Over."

"What, can you not see it? Or are you guys still in that tunnel? Over."

"Affirmative, we're still in here, what needs moving? Over."

The radio was silent for a few moments, "Shit's taller than Everest if I had to guess. Over."

Theo's eyes went wide, "You're surely joking? Over."

"No, I wish I was. It's blocking the only route from here, we'll have to turn around. Over."

Everyone who'd heard groaned and leaned back in their chairs, "Will we have to wait for your truck to reach here to proceed? Over."

"Affirmative. Over." The radio responded, much to the dismay of the occupants. A message was then broadcasted to the entire convoy, "Attention everyone, we're going to have to turn around. Wait for my truck to pass yours before proceeding."

Theo sighed and turned the truck around before putting it into park, "We're going to be here a while.."

Nephrite nodded, "That's for sure. So where are we heading now?"

Theo looked over, "If I had to guess? I'd say North."

"How so?"

"We've been heading South and we're about to turn around."

"Oh."

And there was silence for several minutes...

Until an urgent message came over the radio, "Attention, Gem patrols have come to inspect the blockage, get into the tunnels as fast as you can and avoid being spotted at all costs!"

Several trucks began passing theirs before Theo threw it out of park and followed, making room for everyone else.

"Here we go." Theo deadpanned.

The trucks drove through the old, dark tunnel for several more minutes before another message came over the radio, "Red Alert! I repeat, Red Alert! We have been spotted! STEP ON IT THEY'VE-" There was the sound of crunching metal, before static. All the trucks in front hit the gas, shortly followed by those behind them.

One of the Bellogan soldiers shouted to Theo, "PULL THE CAR OVER!"

Theo jumped, and hesitantly did so, "Why? What's going on?"

The soldier announced, "I'm gonna try and hold them back as long as possible."

Most of the occupants gasped, one shouted, "That's suicide!"

"I know." He responded, checking his weapon, "But if it helps all these innocents escape then it'll be worth it."

Several of the occupants looked at each other, before another soldier stepped forward, "Hey-"

"Look, you're not going to change my mind-" The other soldier held his hand out in front of him, silencing the soldier.

"I'm not trying to convince you to stay, I want to join you." The soldier responded, much to the surprise and dismay of the other occupants.

One of the peridots attempted to dissuade them, "Homeworld will capture you and do horrible experiments to you! They'd do things to you that they wouldn't even do to a pearl!" Several of the Pearls shuddered.

One of the soldiers looked at the peridot, "At least we'll die saving lives."

The number of trucks quickly decreased, only leaving trucks that were badly damaged; on fire; or crippled beyond repair, desperately being pushed away from the way they came. "Hey!" One of the soldiers shouted to two men who were pushing a crippled wreck.

The men looked to him, "Are there any more trucks coming?" He asked.

"No! We're the last one." One of the men responded, continuing to push the truck.

"How many have you got?"

The soldier looked inside the truck, "We've got five, including us!"

"Get on! We've got room!"

The soldiers looked shocked at the proposition, but didn't waste time transporting everything they had to the new transport. The two Bellogan soldiers attached hooks on the back of their suits to rails on either side of the truck's back and secured themselves and their weapons, "Step on it!"

"I thought you were going to stay?"

"There's no reason to if everyone's already made it, now go before _we_ need saving!" One of the soldiers shouted, as a faint light appeared at the opposite end of the tunnel.

Noticing this, Theo hit the gas and the truck was sent soaring through the tunnel. The light was quickly approaching, despite the truck traveling at it's top speed. The soldiers in the back readied their weapons, waiting for the source to become visible.

Once it did, the soldiers wished they'd fired sooner.

It was a horrifying sight, seemingly built to trigger every single primal fear that humans, Bellogans, _and_ Gems had. It was truly a horrifying sight to behold. And it was charging through the tunnels, cracking the walls and ceilings with every step from it's many, eerily organic yet also robotic legs. The soldiers were so horrified that they'd almost forgot they had their weapons. Taking aim, the two prepared to destroy what appeared to be it's eyes.

Then the beast reached out, with a horrifying screech, an appendage that resembled a claw machine's claw, covered in razor sharp spines. It grabbed the truck near one of the soldiers, who quickly released his harness and jumped into the cabin, the monster tore the back off where the soldier was previously. Pulling the broken piece of metal to a 'mouth' that appeared out of nowhere, yet not slowing for a second, tore the piece to shreds and spat those shreds back at the truck. Tearing through the fabric covering, poofing a Gem, and tearing apart the ceiling all in one motion. Repeating this until it ran out of ammo, it reached for an abandoned bus covered in decades of old graffiti and rust. Tearing the bus apart, it prepared to fire when Theo swerved out of the way leading the monster to crash into a concrete support. Causing a small cave in from completely destroying the support, the group had gained enough ground to be able to think clearly.

"Man I'm glad we joined you guys!" One of the soldiers who'd just joined them remarked.

No one was able to respond before the monster broke free of the rubble and began chasing the group once more.

"We need to collapse the tunnel!" The soldier who was still tethered to the back of the truck announced.

"But how!?" One of the new soldiers desperately asked.

"I can shoot the ceiling! It should-" The soldier harnessed to the back was cut off, he'd been impaled by his own gun. The monster had thrown a chunk of concrete so hard at him the gun went through the poor soldier and the back of the truck, locking them in place.

A civilian who'd joined from the previous truck screamed.

"Well there goes that plan!" One of the other Bellogan soldiers shouted, "Any other ideas?"

One of the human soldiers spoke up, "We have a crate full of dynamite! We brought it in from our truck!" They announced, searching through the pile of boxes before pulling one out.

"How are we gonna ignite it?" Someone asked.

The soldier thought for a moment before asking, "Anyone got a lighter?"

No one did.

"Well damnit!" He shouted, setting the small crate back down.

"GUYS!" Theo shouted, gaining everyone's attention, "THERE'S A FORK IN THE ROAD!"

Up ahead a few hundred meters, the road diverged into two different directions.

Quickly acting, Theo turned on the radio to try and get the convoy's attention, "SOS! SOS! WE ARE BEING PURSUED BY AN UNKNOWN CREATURE! WE HAVE SEVERAL INJURED ON BOARD AND ARE QUICKLY APPROACHING A FORK IN THE ROAD! WHICH DIRECTION DID YOU GO? OVER!"

They waited a few seconds before finally getting a response, "LEFT! GO LEFT!"

Theo swerved left, quickly being blocked by the creature and erasing any ability for them to change their minds.

"How far ahead are you? Over!" Theo frantically asked.

"The engineers told us to put some of the Turbo fuel in the engine! We're a couple miles past the fork! Over!" They responded.

Nephrite turned to look at everyone, "Do we have any of that!?"

Everyone near the pile began looking through the crates, desperately hoping to find what they needed, even if they didn't know what they were looking for. Until suddenly, one of the soldiers pulled out a crate and held it in the air, "I FOUND IT!"

The soldier handed it to Nufon, who handed it to Nephrite, "What now?" He near-shouted.

The radio was silent for a few moments before they spoke again, "You need to put it in the engine! there should be a diagram on the bottle!"

Nephrite looked at the crate, "This is a box?!"

Theo looked at her, annoyed, "The bottle is _inside_ the box!"

Nephrite tore the box open, lo and behold, there was a bottle with a diagram of an engine. She looked at it, ascertaining what to do through the pictures since she couldn't read English, "Alright! I think I know what to do!"

"Great! How do we put it in?" One of the soldiers asked.

"We need to put it directly into the engine! Through this round thing!" She announced, pointing at a diagram of the bottle being poured into a funnel.

Theo and several human soldiers visibly paled, "So we need to put it into the engine... _While_ the truck is moving?" One of the soldiers asked.

"It would appear so..." Theo sighed, mentally preparing himself for the end..

"N- no!" Nephrite started, attempting to calm everyone down, "We can still do this!"

"How?" Theo asks, genuinely curious.

"I can go out there and pour the stuff in myself!" Nephrite confidently explained.

"And how would he see where he's going?" Someone asked.

Nephrite looked at them, confused.

"In order to access the engine, you need to lift up that piece of metal." They explained, pointing to the hood of the truck, "In doing so would block the driver's view, likely leading to a crash. I'm not sure how it works with Gem vehicles, but that's how it works here."

Nephrite looked surprised, "That's so inefficient! What if something in the engine breaks? How would you fix it?!"

"You stop and fix it, if you don't crash." They finished.

Nephrite thought for a moment, and decided on a solution, "How about we take it off?"

Theo looked at her, shocked, "You mean we get rid of the hood of the car? Mid drive no less!"

Nephrite sighed, "Then does anyone have any better ideas?!"

There was silence for a moment before one of the soldiers spoke up, "This used to be a highway! We can take the next exit!"

Most of the group thought this was a good idea before Nufon asked, "And what if it follows us?"

The soldier lifted a finger, about to respond when there was a huge crash beside them. Once they passed they saw a chunk of metal covered in some transparent green goo. As they continued on, the goo quickly dissolved the metal.. And the floor...

There was a new wave of panic passing through everyone when someone shouted out the question everyone had on their minds, "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS THING?"

It seemingly began to slow down, stopping for a moment to inspect an old neon sign; which had somehow managed to survive through the ravages of time. It picked up the sign, which immediately began to flicker before shutting off for the last time. It crushed the sign to powder in one move and darted forward, pursuing our heroes once more.

While almost everyone was panicking over the acidic slime, Ocean was watching the creature destroy the sign.

"That's it..." She whispered, the nearby soldier being the only one to hear her.

"What's it?!" They shouted, gaining the attention of a few more occupants.

"Light!" Ocean shouted, "It's attracted to light!"

The soldier stood and tried to get everyone's attention.

"HEY!" They shouted, the senseless panicking ceasing immediately. Gesturing to Ocean, they continued, "Ocean has made a discovery."

Everyone waited impatiently for Ocean to explain what she found, "It's attracted to light!"

They paused for a moment and began planning. After about a minute, they came up with a solution, "All you Gems are going to have to stay out of it's vision, since you're made of light. We'll also have to disable the lights on this thing and we'll throw something out to distract it!"

The Gems didn't hesitate to do whatever they could to hide. Theo prepared to set the truck to a 'Stealth mode,' which disables the lights and causes the power source to come from a small battery bank that would last at least an hour. The soldiers prepared a crate full of magnesium, originally meant to be used as a fire starter.

The creature had sped up, sensing that something was up. Preparing the crate, the soldiers were frantically trying to find a way to light it.

Nufon walked toward the crate, telling the soldiers to step aside. He put one foot on the crate, ready to push it out.

"Kill the lights!" He shouted, pushing the crate out and shooting it with a small laser pistol.

Theo set the truck to stealth mode, bathing the group in darkness for several moments...

Before a brilliant light lit up the entire tunnel and, as hoped, caused the monster to stop to inspect it.

No one moved a muscle or made a sound as they watched the horrifying monster slowly approach the light like a moth to a flame. The tunnel then turned away from the beast, slowly blocking sight of it. Still, no one moved for several minutes. Which quickly became ten, then 15, and suddenly they were engulfed in sunlight once more.

Theo disabled stealth mode, the lights turning back on and the roar of the engine being the queue for the Gems to reveal themselves from their hiding spots.

Everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief when they realized they were safe for now.

* * *

For several hours there's been almost nothing but silence. Using some medical equipment they found in a nearby town they managed to patch up the soldier who'd been impaled. Theo was unable to regain contact with the rest of the convoy, but reassures everyone that he knows where they're going. Sadly however, since they didn't have much time to pack up for the trip supplies were already running short. They had to set up camp in a small town to resupply.

Pulling into the town was strange, where there would ordinarily be busy streets full of people trying to get to work or cars honking immediately after the lights turn green; the streets were empty. Luckily there weren't any bodies, but that wasn't what unnerved them.. It was actually the _lack_ of anything unordinary. No signs of any struggle or even the inhabitants packing their things for evacuations. It was as if everyone suddenly had the urge to drop everything they were doing any leave. And not only was there no damage, but there were no _plants_. The places where overgrown lawns should have been was nothing more than lumpy swaths of dry soil.

They didn't feel like they were being watched. That slightly eased their tensions, but not by much. Theo pulled into a gas station to see if there was anything left he could use.. Surprisingly, the moment he tests the pump, gas begins pouring out.

Not easing his anxiety over the situation, he decides to take advantage of this and fills up as many containers as he can.

After they'd collected gas, Theo realized they needed food so he drove down to the town's supermarket. As expected, there was no signs of wear or tear. It may as well have just been closed for the day..

Deciding that he didn't want to leave the truck driver less, he had several of the human soldiers loot the place since they'd know what to look for.

While everyone in the truck was waiting, a sudden tingling feeling of anxiety washed over everyone in the truck. They were now, most certainly, being watched...

Theo thought about honking the horn to urge the soldiers to hurry up, but thought otherwise. Luckily, the soldiers didn't take too long after that.

They'd felt it too.

* * *

Completely unnerved over the situation, yet still in need of a place to rest for the night, the group traveled into the nearby suburbs. The only difference was the buildings. They drove down, trying to find a house that would be able to contain all of them. They stumbled upon a strange sight, in the front yard of one of the buildings was a piece of meat. Stopping to get a better look, they realized the house would be an adequate place to stay. Still unnerved over the situation, Theo didn't want to leave the truck alone. He sent several soldiers to check to make sure it was clear.

There several minutes passed before the sun began to slightly dip below the horizon. Remaining in one of the shadows, Theo and Nephrite were able to admire the colors of the light passing in between the buildings from the front seats.

Suddenly, one of the soldiers rushed out and shouted, "QUICK! EVERYBODY GET INSIDE!"

One of the soldiers who remained on the truck questioned what got them all riled up, but the man explained that there was no time. Theo shut off the truck and rushed inside with everyone else. Several of the patrol party quickly blocking the door with as much of the furniture as they could.

They lowered their voice considerably, "Quick, we need all of you to go in the storm cellar. It's in the back of the house, we'll secure the building and meet you back there."

Frightened, they complied and made their way into the cellar, which was surprisingly roomy. They all waited for several minutes before the soldiers came back and used several metal bars to lock the door, which was already made of metal itself. One of the soldiers was carrying a small stack of papers.

Nufon stepped up, "Alright now, what's the big deal?" He asked, annoyed.

Two of the soldiers looked at each other, one of them walked over to Theo, handing him the papers.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Read it." The soldier gently ordered him, a sad look in his eyes.

Theo looked at the soldier for a moment, concerned, and real the first document.

* * *

 _7/18/2021-George J. Patrick_

 _Apoc. Journal 1,_

 _I am writing this journal to help me maintain my sanity during this time of crisis. Several weeks ago, we all heard news that we'd made contact with intelligent life! I was thrilled! Of course, due to the fact that I have labeled this as my "Apocalypse Journal," you may be able to tell that things did not go well._

 _For several weeks after, we'd heard about alliance talks between our civilizations, about trading technology, about humans being able to soar through the stars!_

 _None of that happened, obviously. One day, I woke up as usual, I made breakfast and turned on the TV. But that was the first strange thing, the TV was on an emergency broadcast. I changed channels and sure enough, it was on all frequencies._

 _I thought it was rather strange, but I didn't hear any sirens and was too focused on going about my routine that I failed to realize what was being said._

 _I went outside as usual, about to go to my car when I realized... My yard was barren! All the grass was gone! And if that wasn't strange enough, the busy street I lived on was silent! No cars were moving! At this point I chickened out on going to work and decided to go back inside. I then wrote the emergency broadcast on the attached sticky notes._

* * *

Attached to the document were several yellow sticky notes which read, in quickly scribbled writing: 'WARNING! THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE DEPT. OF SEC. OF THE U.S.! ALL CITIZENS WITHIN A 40 MILE RADIUS AROUND THE CHEYENNE, WYOMING AND FORT COLLINS, COLORADO AREA; REMAIN IN YOUR HOMES! SECURE ALL ENTRANCES TO YOUR HOMES! DO NOT LOOK OUTSIDE OF YOUR HOMES! IF A MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY LEAVES YOUR HOME AND FAILS TO RETURN: DO NOT LOOK FOR THEM! IN THE EVENT THAT YOUR HOME'S SECURITY IS BREACHED, LOCK YOURSELF IN A ROOM WITH NO WINDOWS AND A STRONG DOOR! FURTHER MESSAGES WILL BE BROADCASTED AS NEW INFORMATION IS DISCOVERED!'

Theo now knew that something went seriously wrong in this town, so he began reading the next one; several human soldiers looking over his shoulders to read the documents as well.

* * *

 _2/5/2022_

 _apoc journal 2_

 _in the months since i wrote my previous entry, several strange things have occurred:_

 _1\. at night there have been whispers from outside_

 _2\. several people have left their homes calling for someone_

 _3_ _. i can hear things shifting outside, scratching with no source, footsteps with no cause_

 _it seems to be safe outside during the day but i wont take my chances_

 _god help me_

* * *

In the time that Theo and the soldiers were reading the document, they failed to notice that everyone had gathered together on the wall opposite the door.

They then realized why, there was a faint scratching seemingly coming from the other side. Slowly, the group joined them and continued to read.

* * *

 _i dont know the time anymore_

 _the clock is broken and i keep losing track of the days_

 _the power went out what felt like a few days ago, several local emergency messages being broadcasted before then. the most notable being: 'THEY ARE NOT HUMAN,' 'THEY TRICK YOU WITH THEIR WHISPERS,' 'FEAR THE DARKNESS,' 'RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN,' and 'OH GOD THEY MADE IT IN.'_

 _the signal cut out several hours before the power and my car is gone_

 _i have since decided to do an expiriment_

 _i saw what these things did to humans and animals and plants_

 _i wanted to know what they'd do to an ordinary piece of ham_

 _i threw one on my lawn, i'm going to wait to see what happens_

* * *

The next paper had several red stains, Theo decided not to read it.

Come morning, the group did not hesitate to leave as fast as they could.

* * *

 _Several days later_

The group was worse for wear, they'd had several more run-ins with the Lovecraftian horrors that roamed the planet since they left the town. Luckily, they didn't have any need to stop since they grabbed all they'd need for weeks. Since then, Theo had decided to run a few tests on the foodstuffs they'd collected, which was safe but was completely sterile. Aside from the microorganisms that had been clinging to the man's hand, there weren't any signs of even bacteria ever having lived there.

With each passing run-in with the unknown, Peridot grew continually more upset with the Diamond authority for keeping so many secrets. They'd lost several members of their group since, the two peridots who'd helped with the escape from Aqua-Firma being the only two left. A few of the Quartzes and a ruby had jumped off the truck for no particular reason, seemingly in a trance, however once the rest of the group looked they were nowhere to be found.

Growing ever anxious, everyone decided to fashion some makeshift armor around the back of the truck from some old cars they'd found. Several modifications were made by the two peridots, such as increasing fuel efficiency and some slightly better armor; nothing special.

The truck was driving down another old highway which had managed to remain open to the sky, several of the occupants were having a conversation.

"So, why exactly were these 'highways' built?" Nufon asked.

"Ah! You see, back around in... I think 1957, there was a war going on between the two major superpowers of Earth; the United States, and the Soviet Union. But this wasn't any old war, you see, this was the Cold War." Theo explained.

Nufon gave him a strange look, "'Cold War?' Why was it called that?"

"Well, the two superpowers had recently discovered how to manufacture the Atomic Bomb, it was an arms race to see who could get the most. It's called the 'Cold War' because no bombs were actually used, if any were it would be referred to as World War 3." Theo continued.

"I see.." Nufon responded, not really understanding.

Nephrite then asked, "Why are most of them tunnels?"

Theo had a sad look, "They actually weren't, they were all just like.. Trenches! That's the word."

Nephrite looked at him, "Then why are they tunnels now?"

"Because when the Gems landed, they sent down these huge machines that stirred up the ground. Huge dust storms swept across the Earth for years. And, I assume they're tunnels because the ones used most often were dug out. You see, once the dust settled it somehow turned into this weird clay-like material."

"And this material is what the tunnels are made of now?"

"Most of them."

There was silence for a moment.

Nephrite turned around to see the occupants in the back of the truck and called to the peridots, "You two fix that thing yet?"

The other peridot, who was simply referred to as 'Two' turned to Nephrite, "It was never broken. It seems as if something's been jamming the signals."

"Any idea what?"

"Not a clue."

Nephrite turned back to look at the road and, slumping in her chair, began to watch the clouds. Ever since she'd seen the planet from orbit they'd fascinated her, and she'd only ever gotten a chance to get a good look at them now; and there couldn't have been a better time to just watch them. The shadows from nearby mountains were cast in the clouds, the orange sun glowing behind. With both moons glowing in the sunlight. Not to mention the-...

She did a double take, looking back up to the sky. There were still two moons. She tapped Theo's arm and pointed to the second moon, "Has that always been there?"

Theo slowed the truck so he could peer out at what Nephrite was pointing at. His eyes widened, "No.. No it has not..."

Nufon heard the two talking, and turned to ask what they were looking at before he saw Nephrite pointing at something. Looking out the window, he saw it and put his hand on his head, "Please tell me that's not _another_ Gem thing? Hey Peridot? Can you come here for a sec?"

Peridot stopped what she was doing and walked over, taking a look at the large object. Nufon asked, "Do you recognize that?"

She was silent for a moment, "No, but I think it's safe to assume that that's what's blocking the signal."

They watched the object slowly shift, a large 'trench' appeared on the side with a hole that appeared to lead to the center. Suddenly, the bottom of the hole began to light with an eerie, red glow.

They watched as the light grew in intensity, Theo stopping the truck momentarily. Everyone in the truck was aware of it now, silently conversing among themselves as to what they believe it could be.

Suddenly, the light shot out of the end in a large beam. The red laser shot down somewhere beyond the horizon, but the machine was slowly turning. Quickly, the beam began to shine on a place just short of the horizon, blocking the view of the mountains beneath. Once the beam passed the mountain, there was a huge gash melted through the scenic location. The sides of the mountain were glowing white hot, and the nearby forests were ignited in a terrifyingly brilliant display of destruction.

* * *

 _Meanwhile, on the moon_

Pink Diamond slowly watched as her face was carved into the planet below. She didn't approve, in fact she'd slowly come to like the planet in spite of all that had been released on it. Slowly, several giant cuboid ships traversed the skies of the planet below, leaving a trail of chaos in their wake.

She'd been speaking to her Pearl about the event that had happened, to her, almost half an hour ago when the machine appeared.

Watching the beautiful planet she'd come to love melt in front of her was infuriating. She waited for a call from one of the other diamonds, as they always called when they tested something on Earth. She knew they didn't take her efforts seriously, but they couldn't have made it more obvious!

Then, as she'd expected, a call came through on her communicator; mustering up the most annoyed face she could put on, she responded.

Blue Diamond appeared on the other end, a genuine smile on her face, "What do you think?"

Pink Diamond sighed, "While it was a nice thought, was it necessary to test it on _my_ planet?"

Blue looked disappointed, "Pink, you know that we're mostly using that planet as a testing ground. Why not at least make it look nice?"

Pink put a hand over her face, "I told all of you, specifically, _multiple times_ , that this planet is going to be a _colony_. My colony to be exact."

Blue sighed, "Did it at least work?"

"Yes," Pink responded, slightly rolling her eyes, "It worked perfectly.."

"Great!" Blue responded, "If you ever want to make any, I'm sending you the blueprints now."

Blue hung up, and Pink received a message with the blueprints as promised. Not opening it, she turned to her pearl.

"Pearl, I can't live like this anymore."

Her Pearl looked at her, confused, "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to be a diamond anymore."

Her pearl gasped.

"And I think I have the perfect solution..."

 **And there's number 9! I hope you all enjoyed! Also, I just wanted to ask what you all thought about the monsters? Personally I love them.**

 **Lastly, don't forget that reader feedback is always appreciated! It helps me improve the story, fix plotholes, ect. So don't forget to share any advice you may have!**

 **I'll see you all in the next one!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again! Sorry for the break in my update schedule. You all know that I don't own Steven Universe, just my OCs. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

The truck continued onward, passing several small towns and cities. There was enough food and water to last everyone a few more days, due mainly to their lack of resources, everyone couldn't help but be on edge. Since they knew they were on a planet full of monsters, aliens, and all sorts of things that would jump at the first chance they got to kill them all. Theo continued in roughly the same direction, only deviating from the path when there was a blockage that couldn't be cleared or a turn in the road. Thankfully there's been a record low of run-ins with anything for the past few days, the only recent loss being a Quartz who'd seen something interesting and stupidly decided to jump out of the truck; only to be violently pulled into the ground upon reaching their destination. Needless to say, nobody stayed long to find out what happened.

Everyone had been silent for the past few days, only speaking about problems that needed to be fixed and going silent once they were done. It was completely understandable, morale was at an all time low; the only thing keeping everyone together being the fear of what roamed outside the back door. They hadn't stopped since they'd gotten their supplies, the humans who knew where to go taking turns driving. At this point Theo was driving again, in silence like everyone else on the truck.

Nephrite sat in the passenger seat watching the sky change, as well as keep an eye out for Gem ships patrolling the area and dark shapes shifting just outside of her field of view. Many times in her existence has she been bored; be it waiting around for an important Gem to escort who always took _far too long_ , or waiting around for her ship to be repaired and the Gems not being allowed to speak to each other for whatever reason. She'd fallen asleep several times, since even though the bore of standing around on Gem territory was painful, this was _excruciating_. Back around the colonies the waiting lasted days at most, but here.. She'd been doing nothing for the past few _weeks_! She'd give half her gem for something, _anything_ to do!

She could keep her gem whole, because that was exactly when something happened.

The truck had been travelling through a road surrounded by a thick, mutated grass, it was about seven feet tall and obscured everything within from view. It was also very windy, causing the grass to shake wildly and release a fog-like cloud of multicolored pollen; masking any movement not on the road within about fifty feet. So you could understand her surprise when something jumped out and stopped in the middle of the road, right in front of the truck.

Theo noticed too, and immediately hit the brakes. Everyone lurched forward as the truck came to a stop, and for a few moments after there was silence.. Until a limb reached out toward the windshield, realizing it was a terrible idea to stop the truck, Theo hit the gas; running over the creature.

Behind the truck the air was filled with a pained, animalistic wail obviously from the creature that had just been run over by a two ton truck. For a few moments, the only sound was the pained howls of the poor beast, drowning out the roar of the engine. Until, slowly, the howls died down into loud, pained whimpers which were quickly overpowered by the distance of the truck and thickness of the fog. The truck continued on in relative silence, several ears ringing from the intensity of the sound, until the engine began to sputter, quickly quieting down. The only sound left being the rustling of the grass from the wind.

Theo looked at the dashboard, "Aw fuck."

Nephrite looked over, having been taught what several of the gauges meant she immediately saw the problem.. The truck was out of gas. Turning to the back of the truck she asked, "Do we have any more gas?"

Everyone looked around, trying to remember where the gas was left. The pearls all checked their gems, all coming up empty. Everyone immediately realized the implications of this, either they'd have to leave the truck behind, or several people would have to step out and push it until they reached a gas station that wasn't empty. Weighing their options, they argued amongst each other for several minutes.

"If we leave the truck behind we'll be vulnerable!" Someone said.

"If we don't we'll be stuck here!" Someone else replied, "Nobody's going to volunteer to push us!"

A new voice spoke up, "Of all times, this would probably be the best time to leave the truck behind, at least we aren't surrounded by monsters!"

Several of the humans went pale, and one stage whispered at the owner of the voice, "Don't jinx it!"

There was silence for several moments, everyone trying to make sure their changes of survival hadn't diminished from slim to none. Luckily, the forces of the universe had seemingly taken pity on the group, as nothing jumped out of the grass or the fog.

Someone pulled a map out of their pocket and looked at it for a moment, "According to this map, we're about fifty miles from Seattle."

Someone else looked over and asked, "Where'd you get asked?" Before getting ignored.

Theo looked back at everyone, "Good, Seattle's near where we're headed!"

Slowly, the back door was opened.. Luckily, there was nothing there. Everyone filed out, grabbing anything they could carry with the pearls taking everything else. Nephrite and Theo stepped out through the side doors and joined everyone else, who were surrounding the person with the map. After a moment they'd all planned their route and began walking down the road, the truck slowly fading away into the fog.

Looking around, Nephrite realized that they appeared to be in an overgrown town of sorts. In the fog she could see the faint outlines of abandoned houses and utility poles, several having some sort of unidentifiable plant life growing on it. Turning back to the group, Nephrite walked over to Nufon, "So.. The past few weeks have been pretty wild, huh?"

Nufon turned away from the path and looked at Nephrite, before turning back, "Yeah..." There was silence for a moment, "You know, I have to tell you something.."

Nephrite turned to him, silently asking him to continue.

"Before this mission, to come to this system I mean, my race had never encountered any friendly civilizations. Hell, we didn't even run into any individuals who were friendly. At our core, I'd like to think that Bellogan society is ultimately peaceful.. You know what, I'm getting off topic, to put it short.." Nufon turned to Nephrite, slowing down for a moment, "I just wanted to thank you.. For being nice. In the entire history of the Bellogan empire, you are the first alien anyone's met who's been a good person. And I very much appreciate that."

Nephrite had no idea what to say, and there was silence for a moment before Nufon continued.

"All my life I've had a dream that someday, perhaps the Bellogan Empire would become a multi-race coalition of sorts. Just imagine it, multiple intelligent species living on the same planets. Imagine being able to walk down to the street and passing several unique species on the way, all of them greeting each other with the same kindness you'd show to a good friend... Until I met you, I'd thought it was nothing but a fantasy, an impossible dream." He looked at her, a grateful look in his eyes, "And now that I know you, I can't help but think that; 'Maybe.. Maybe it's not so impossible.'"

Nephrite couldn't help but agree, it indeed sounded like a very nice universe to live in.

Everyone was silent, walking down the old road. The wind slowly subsided, and the pollen settling slightly, allowing everyone to see further and leaving the group in silence with the exception of all their footsteps.

Someone held up their hand, signaling for everyone to stop. Once everyone stopped and it was silent, they looked around for something.

Someone began to whisper, "What are you-" Before being promptly shushed.

There was silence once more, everyone straining their ears in an attempt to hear what had stopped them and looking around for anything that may have caused it. After about a minute, the person slowly lowered their hand and looked around, confused, before continuing to walk down the road.

Someone else then stopped, not raising their hand, and looked around, several others stopping as well to see what the person was doing. They continued on after a few moments just as the first, noticeably more on edge. After several minutes of walking and several others stopping, General Norg got sick of it, "Alright, what do you idiots keep stopping for?"

Everyone jumped, since he'd been silent for the past few days, one of the people who'd stopped looked at him, "There's something out there, dude."

Norg sighed, "There's _always_ going to be something out there. Have you been living under a rock for the past few weeks?"

They looked him dead in the eyes, "This one's different. Whatever it is, I have a worse feeling about it than anything else we've encountered."

Everyone's eyes widened, and they all looked at each other. Nufon looked at the person, "What do you suggest we do?"

They stared at nothing for a moment before realizing that Nufon spoke to him, "I think.. I should go investigate."

Nufon looked at him like he just shrugged off getting hit by a meteor, " _What!?_ That's suicide!" He shouted.

One of the other's who'd stopped quickly put their hand over his mouth, " _Quiet!_ " They stood there for a moment, everyone looking around to make sure they hadn't attracted any attention.

Suddenly, a faint sound could be heard on their left, past one of the grass walls. The sound resembled a shriek, similar to someone who'd just realized there was a spider on their back. It couldn't be determined how far it was, other than 'distant.' The shrieks continued, sounding like a person who was being viciously attacked by something. The people who'd stopped suddenly walked over to the grass in unison, reducing the groups numbers from fifteen to nine; the remaining members being Nephrite, Nufon, Theo, Pearl, Peridot, Ocean, Norg, Belro, and John; one of the human soldiers who previously went unmentioned.

Belro went pale, "What are you _doing?_ " He near-shouted, "We need to stick together!"

The one who was holding the map turned to look at Belro and tossed the map to him, not saying a word. They then turned back and all ran into the grass in the direction of the shrieks.

Everyone looked at the grass for a moment, john quickly picked up the map and looked at where they were going. Before freezing in place, shocked. Theo noticed this, and asked what was wrong, John responded in a quiet mumble, barely audible.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that." Theo told him, attempting to be as reassuring as he could.

John looked Theo right in the eyes, "There's no city this way.."

Everyone directed their attention from the grass to John, " _What._ " Most spoke in near unison.

He looked at them all, "They lied to us... We're in the middle of nowhere."

* * *

 _Meanwhile, back on the Moon_

Pink Diamond explained her plan to her pearl. She planned to shut down all of the other Diamond's experiments by unleashing a swarm of nanobots onto the planet, to specifically target and destroy everything the other Diamonds had done to the planet.

She'd had her peridots work tirelessly to produce enough to quickly cover the planet.

Once they'd built enough to fill even the largest lunar craters, she ordered they all be dumped onto the planet immediately. Which lead to now, the nanobots working their way from the southern hemisphere to the north, eating away at the horrible things the Diamonds had unleashed onto the poor planet. Several of the devices used were staffed, and so several of the Gems called their respective Diamonds once they realized their workplace was being turned into a strange dark cloud. The other Diamonds immediately called Pink. She looked over at her communicator and answered, the largest grin she could manage appearing once she saw the others enraged expressions.

"Pink, we know that you're responsible for this." Yellow chastised.

Pink Diamond tilted her head, "Yellow, I have no idea what you mean?"

Yellow Diamond's rage only rose, "Don't you lie to me! I see that smug grin on your face, don't even try to say that you haven't done this!"

Pink lost her grin and only looked annoyed, "Well, why have you three put all your experiments on _my_ planet, huh? If you never expected me to get tired of you dumping all your _garbage_ onto my colony, you shouldn't have told me it was _mine_." She scowled.

White Diamond looked at her, "Pink, look at me." Pink looked at her, "If you wanted us to leave you should have _asked_."

Pink scowled at her, "I shouldn't _have_ to ask you to get off the planet you gave to me!"

White looked at her for a moment, before looking off screen, "You, peridot," She spoke, pointing to someone not visible, "We're testing experiment TRA-3C early."

A voice responded, "But, my Diamond, it's not ready yet!"

White Diamond scowled at the voice, a tiny 'peep' being audible off screen, "Did I stutter?"

The voice responded, "N- no my Diamond! I'll have it deployed right away!"

White Diamond looked back to Pink, "There, that should take care of it."

Pink Diamond's eyes widened, "What are you doing?"

White grinned, "It's a passion project of mine, a device meant to transport an entire planet to another location for easy harvesting."

Pink silently gasped, White enjoying watching the fear dance in her eyes, "Of course, however, it's not nearly powerful enough yet to transport a planet, it should be more than enough to get rid of that little swarm you've got there."

"NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Pink shouted at the screen.

White gained a menacing look, "Why not, Pink?"

Pink shrank down in her chair, "Y- you three gave me this planet, why are you doing this?" She asked, a sad, teary expression grazing her face.

"Because Pink," Blue spoke, "You've been ungrateful of all of the things we've done for you."

Pink's jaw dropped, "Things _you've_ for _me_? I can count everything you've done for me on one hand. In fact, I will!" Pink held up a fist toward the screen.

Yellow rolled her eyes, "Pink, I'm sending out a transport ship to your location now. You're coming back to Homeworld whether you like it or not."

Pink looked at all the screens for a moment, before hanging them all up at once. She put her hands over her face, staying still for a moment before looking up with a look of determination. "Pearl, we're going down there, they won't be able to find us."

Her pearl nodded, not wanting to disobey her Diamond.

Pink ran down the stairs to the main floor of the base, passing the murals of the other Diamonds and opening the airlock. She looked up just in time to watch a large, black machine drop out of warp near the planet, _'That must be what White was talking about.'_ She thought.

Running to her ship, which was docked down a path on the lunar surface, she thought over what she was going to do once she realized she hadn't actually thought this through. _'Whatever I do, it's better than staying here.'_

Off in the distance, the Bellogan fleet appeared, their arrival delayed by time-dilating devices the other diamonds had placed in Earth's orbit which were destroyed by the nanobot swarm. Boarding her ship, she left the door open for her pearl to follow.

* * *

The device White Diamond had sent turned to the fleet and activated, creating a gravitational vortex which the fleet promptly fell into.

Somewhere on Homeworld, several alarms began going off.

"My Diamond, something just damaged TRA-3C's coordinate system!" A peridot exclaimed.

White Diamond looked at the peridot, "Is that pesky swarm gone yet?"

The peridot responded, "Not yet, my Diamond."

White Diamond directed her attention elsewhere, "Then it doesn't matter, continue as planned."

"Yes, my Diamond!"

* * *

After the group of nine stopped panicking over being lost, they realized that another large device appeared in orbit. They watched as it turned and activated some sort of portal.

"Wait a minute, is that my fleet!?" Nufon shouted as he watched the familiar ships fall through the portal, likely to never be seen again.

They watched powerlessly as the ships fell through the portal one-by-one until one of them bumped into an antennae, bending it before it fell through the portal as well; followed by two more ships before the fleet was gone.

They all stared up at it for a moment before they realized the device was turning toward the planet, the portal still activated. Several stones on the road began to float, the pollen in the field following.

They all realized this, quickly grabbing onto pieces of grass nearby. Several moments later, the device fully turned toward the planet, resulting in everything not bolted to the ground to fall toward the new source of gravity.

A decent distance away, the could see everyone who'd run into the field fall toward the device, followed by several indiscernible dog-sized creatures. They also watched as the truck they'd spent so much time in fall as well, covered in the strange creatures. They watched as the clouds themselves were sucked through the portal, along with several strange black masses which fell apart upon contact with the portal.

All of the grass in the field tilted in the direction of the portal, shaking as winds began to sweep through as the gasses in the atmosphere were stripped from their planet and forced through the portal.

Nephrite held on to several strands of grass for dear life, looking around to make sure no one lost their grip. Suddenly, a sound which made her nonexistent stomach drop; the sound of grass ripping. She looked down at the grass she was holding on to to make sure she wasn't hearing things, and sure enough, several of the strands were broken.

She reached out for more grass, but couldn't get a grip on any from them shaking so much in the wind. She called out in a desperate attempt to get anyone's attention, when the rest of the grass she was holding on to ripped relatively silently. She began to fall toward the portal, desperately reaching out for something when she managed to grab something more solid than a blade of grass. Looking at it, she realized she had grabbed Belro's ankle. Belro barely had enough time to look at her before the grass he was holding onto snapped from the increased weight. They screamed silently, the sound not being audible over the wind that was passing them. Nufon noticed the two falling toward the portal and let go, not willing to lose the first friendly alien any Bellogan had ever met. Norg noticed him let go, and attempted to reach out and stop him, but was too slow. As soon as Norg swung his hand out, the grass holding him down snapped as well, already having been strained from him weighing a lot from his high muscle mass.

Nephrite was disoriented from being thrown around from the wind, and held on to the nearest thing she could with all her strength; which was Belro. She realized where she was going, and began to freak out again. Believing this was some sort of massive garbage disposal sent by the Diamonds, she didn't want to find out where it lead to but not really having a choice in the matter anymore.

She held on to Belro as she watched the portal grow in size, gaining a fairly good view of the inside.. She saw nothing through it, the debris fading into black once it passed through the portal.

Her life flashed before her eyes as she watched the void beyond the vortex grow in her vision, watching as what would surely be her prison for the rest of time approach ever so quickly. Once it filled her entire field of view she shut her eyes, not wanting to watch as the universe she'd lived her entire life in left her reach. She waited, the sound of wind deafening, as she was sure she'd passed through the portal. She slightly opened her eyes, seeing nothing she turned around only to see nothing else. She suddenly realized she wasn't holding on to Belro anymore, and looked around. Seeing nothing, she reached out to try to find something, anything to hold on to. Realizing there was nothing, she stayed there in the dark. Sure that this would be where she would be for the rest of ever, she gave up trying to find something, and simply stayed still. Reflecting on the short time she'd been alive for a Gem.

She closed her eyes, frowning, as she realized how pointless her life had been. Taking orders from Gems who didn't care about whether or not you were dead or alive. She sat there, thinking about retreating into her Gem for the rest of time when she noticed a speck of light. She blinked twice to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, and reached out to it. A white light suddenly overtaking her vision, she shielded her eyes.

 **And that is the end of the story! Don't worry, I have plans to make a sequel! I'm sorry for the break in updates, I was busy with somethings and life got in the way. But It's here now! It may be a while before I do anything else, though.**

 **What did you all think of the monsters? Did I do a good job?**

 **And as always, see you all next time!**


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